Louder Than Thunder
by RippahGoneWolf
Summary: All Hell was about to break loose. After dying while protecting a grieving Klaus, Caroline finds herself sent back in time, and she's not who she once was. She's more. Back in Mystic Falls, something else is stirring. After the arrival of a mysterious figure from Klaus' past, it all comes to a head. It really is louder than thunder. Starts after 4x12. AU. Time travel. Not giving up
1. Louder Than Thunder

**A/n: This is now the edited version of it. Thanks to my two betas! Both of you rock! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD. **

Chapter 1: Louder Than Thunder

"Unbelievable," the young blonde said to herself. It seemed to be one thing after another; never ending, never relenting, or so it seemed from Caroline's point of view.

Living in Mystic Falls Caroline thought that she had seen it all. This little town seemed to breed trouble and the only thing you could do was just deal with it as it came. Caroline had always been good at that, dealing, persisting, surviving.

She was born a survivor.

It still came as a surprise to her that after all this time and all the obstacles thrown her way, she had managed to hang on just a bit longer before barely giving in.

There was a need deep inside of her to persevere, to not let go, but holding on was easier said than done.

Leaving the Salvatore's boarding house she had nowhere in particular she was going, just let her feet guide her. The only thing she knew was she needed to get away from what had just happened.

The young vampire usually never complained. She was always there; always ready to support the people she cared about. Her friends, family, Tyler; her caring heart held a special place for them. She had a heart that would never stopped caring.

But everyone has his or her breaking point. She could only care so much before it took a toll on her, mind and body.

All of her thoughts and emotions had been buried deep within her and it had become very taxing indeed. She hated to say it, but she was tired. Utterly and completely exhausted.

That was the word that kept rolling around in her mind, tired. She fitted the exact description.

She was so fucking tired of all of it. Tired with the love triangle drama with Elena. Tired of the competition to find the cure. Tired of giving on her end, but not receiving anything in return. Tired of all the grief. Tired of being unheard. Tired of being there for someone instead of someone being there for her. Tired of being assumed. Tired of being used for convenience. Just tired of being tired, physically and emotionally.

Caroline didn't know how much more she could take.

Having walked off some of her pent up emotion, she finally stopped, sitting on the grass in the front yard of someone's house. She hugged her knees to herself resting her head on her knees. Her sob caught into her throat, as everything came crashing down. All of her walls broke down. She cried for all of her frustration, guilt, anger, and everything in between into the ironically silent night.

Long moments after her breakdown, she let out a steady, but still shaky breath to calm herself. As much as she wanted to wallow in her misery, it would not do her any good. She still had to live in reality, no matter how much she would like to escape it, Mystic Falls' cruel madness always caught up with her.

She could definitely understand why someone would want to get away from this cursed place, and only one name came into mind. Her ticket out of this town, and with thought of him came fruition.

Klaus.

The hybrid that had tried to kill her just for his own selfish ends, her savior who later gave her a second chance at life, without wanting anything in return. A wolf that always had something to prove as the alpha male. A stubborn jackass who could not take a hint after repeated refusals to his advances, and the man beneath the rough façade, who on occasion gave her a glimpse of his more human side.

It all came down to one thing in all of them: humanity.

Humanity is the starting point.

What a person does from that point on determines the path they will forge for their life. A person's actions are only part of the journey; the important point is that everyone is fallible. No one is unbreakable. Even the most powerful and strong fall to their weaknesses. That's humanity.

She turned her eyes to the nearly wrecked Gilbert home. Shock sparked in her eyes. She had heard of what happened, but this was still unheard of.

"What the hell?" she whispered quietly to herself.

Curiosity baited her and against her better judgment, she made slow careful steps inside of the eerily silent house. Caroline heard her footsteps echo from the hardwood floors. She was then startled, her train of thought broken by the sound of sudden banging. Loud yells of anger bellowed not too long after.

She stopped short, the gears in her head turning. That strangled, angry roar sounded all too familiar.

Oh, no, she thought, please don't let it be him, she desperately wished, but it was futile.

It was too late though. As she stepped into the living room, her eyes already trained on the angry hybrid, confirming her fears.

Klaus paced back and forth, impatiently and frustrated, but she could tell there was more to it than he was letting on. She could see it all in his face. His real pain presented itself in his eyes as they met hers.

Surprise appeared his eyes briefly before it vanished being replaced with rage. "Well, isn't this a grand turn of events? If they sent you here to compromise some backward halfway term of peace, you couldn't have a picked any worse of a time. And trust me, sweetheart, those little distraction plans you and your friends pulled in the past aren't going to help you this time either."

"I'm not here for that," the blonde vampire answered him, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"Then what are you here for? You're one of the last people I want to see."

Though she didn't let it show, the infliction of pain behind his words went straight through her. She didn't know anything about the grand plan to complete Jeremy's hunter's mark until it was too late. She was never part of the planning process, only used when needed, left hurt or captured while her friends gloated about their victory.

Her mind traveled back to the whole reason why she had left the boarding house in the first place.

_"You did what?" Caroline belted to the others in the Salvatore's living room, "Are you crazy? Do you all have a death wish?"_

_"Easy, Blondie." Damon smirked, knowing how much that nickname got under her skin, "We have it taken care of. No big deal." He walked nonchalantly up to her patting her cheek reassuring her._

_She slapped his hand away from her face, and her body recoiled under his unwanted touch. "Don't touch me!" Caroline prac__tic__ally growled the words out before turning and walking across the room to where Bonnie and Jeremy stood._

_The last thing she wanted was another fight between them. She couldn't help but think maybe standing up to him would drive home the insanity that all of them have dived down into. Caroline calmed herself down thought, not wanting any more confrontation. Damon always had a way of getting to her and after her transition and his compulsion wore off, he had not been one of the people of her favorite list._

_"Hey now, don't go all crazy bitch on me, Blondie."_

_Caroline couldn't pinpoint it, but something inside of her just snapped. She flashed over to the eldest Salvatore and pushed him, causing him to fly across the room. He landing on the coffee table, glass broke everywhere. Within seconds she was on top of him, her hand firmly around his throat, squeezing as hard as she could. Her fangs elongated, piercing her gums, as the dark veins formed around her eyes, which held a fury in them that Damon unlikely saw._

_Damon should have been able to easily over power her, being older and with more experience, but the anger that fueled the blonde vampire allowed her to hold him to the ground. Something raw, exposed, and deadly spurred her on, allowing the beast inside of her, the one she kept hidden, to take over._

_Her feminine hands were still firm around his neck, cutting off his air. Just as she was getting the satisfaction of watching the light fade f__ro__m his eyes, Stefan pulled her off of him. Everyone looked on with shock, none of them thinking that Caroline was capable of such an attack. Sure, she was scrappy and less deterred than as a human, but she usually didn't lash out._

_Even Bonnie, with her new powers, didn't do anything to stop the attack, which was understandable seeing as Bonnie held just as much dislike for Damon as Caroline. Jeremy held a look of indifference, but he had his crossbow up just to be safe. Elena, protective of her new love, came over to Damon scanning his body for any injuries, giving disapproving glances towards her supposed friend._

_"You need to calm down, Caroline," Elena urged her._

_She shook herself out of Stefan's hold. "I should calm down? Seriously?" Caroline rubbed her hands over her face, "You know what, I should be calm because I had no hand in this. So when Klaus comes after you, which he will, don't come running to me for help."_

_"It was the only way to complete the hunter's mark, Caroline. We needed to do this to find the cure," Elena tried to explain._

_The Cure._

_That's all everyone seemed to talked about these days and Caroline was sick of it._

_"To what end, Elena?" Caroline asked waved her arms expressively close to unleash her fury again. "There had to have been another way besides killing Kol. "_

_The room darkened as a few light bulbs popped within their fixtures around the room, "You need to calm down, Caroline." Bonnie said slowly, but firmly._

_"Bonnie, you have to see reason," Caroline pleaded to her friend, "or has the expression gone to your head and made you irrational?"_

_The Bennett witch's gaze turned cold as she concentrated on Caroline's skull, sending unimaginable pain coursed through the vampire's veins._

_To Caroline__,__ it felt like someone was splitting her head in two. She crumpled on to the floor clutching her head in pain. An incoherent groan escaped her lips at first but as the pain continued her pleas escalated into screaming._

_This spell had been cast upon her before, but this was far worse. This was a whole new level of magic._

_Jeremy had seen enough and placed himself between Bonnie and Caroline, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "Bonnie, that's enough. You're hurting her. You're hurting Caroline. Stop."_

_"She was going to hurt, Elena. Stay out of this, Jer." Bonnie ground out between clenched teeth, her powers increased dangerously. Sounds of bone cracking and blood vessels popping could be heard from the young vampire, making Caroline cry out in agony._

_"Bonnie, please!" Caroline screamed._

_Bonnie's concentration finally broke as guilt ate at her core. She didn't mean for this. She was only trying to protect those she cared about. "I'm sorry, Care. I didn't mean to. You gave me no other choice."_

_Caroline was still slumped on the floor recovering from the witch's attack. She was healing slowly but made herself get up from the floor as her blue eyes simmered with a mix of sadness and disappointment. "You always have a choice Bonnie, and I can see now which way it went."_

_"Come on, Bon," Jeremy urged, taking the witch's hand in his, "let's get out of here. You need rest."_

_Still racked with guilt, Bonnie turned away from Caroline who was steadying herself on a side table and went towards the front door with Jeremy._

_The tension was so thick that it was suffocating. The silence in the room was deafening, and Caroline hated it. She had always hated those awkward, stressed filled moments._

_"Caroline, it had to be done. There was no other way." Stefan tried this time to explain their reasoning and make her see it as truth._

_"Not you too Stefan." Caroline always felt a special bond with him and considered them to be good friends, but she couldn't condone this. "Once that spell wears off, he's going to be coming after all of us. You have effectively pissed off a thousand year old hybrid who won't think twice before killing the people responsible for offing his brother."_

_They all looked at her with blank expression. Why wouldn't they listen to her? Because to them your opinion doesn't matter Caroline, she ranted to herself._

_That is when Damon spoke again, "Well, not all of us, as you pointed out earlier. And I'm not just saying that due to your lack of involvement."_

_She saw this suggestion coming from a mile away, and just like everything else that came out of Damon's mouth, she was tired of hearing it. She was not going to be used again for his gain._

_"No, Damon. I'm not doing it." She flat out refused. "You got yourself into this mess, so I'm sure you can think of a way to get yourself out."_

_"Come on, the guy was practically asking me for advice about how to win you over." Damon grinned as he saw her interest perk. "Plus we all know you love the attention."_

_That was the last straw. She fumed, clenching her hands at her sides, wishing she could wrap them around his neck again._

_"It could work," Elena small voice came from behind her._

_Caroline rounded to face her friend. "No."_

_Elena stepped around Caroline, going to stand next to Damon to form a front again__st__ the blonde, "You wouldn't do this for us…for me?"_

_That was it. Whether it was the sire bond or Elena just being selfish, Caroline had had enough. The room seemed to be closing in on her and the air around her became heavy. Caroline was on the brink of cracking. "Just shut up__,__ damn it! All of you, just stop!"_

_Her outburst echoed throughout the boarding house. Elena and the brothers staggered back away from the young vampire who was boiling with anger. Her blue eyes blazing, "I'm done! I've had enough!" She ranted going straight towards the door._

_"Caroline! Don't go. We need your help. Don't you want to find the cure? It could help all of us." Elena said in a begging way, hoping for Caroline to stay._

_How dare Elena ask this of her. That hypocritical little… Caroline was working hard to hold but the reins of her mind. It was too hard to keep it all in and the last thing she wanted was to snap again, but she couldn't help it. Not anymore._

_"No, Elena. Not all of us, only you. You meant it could help you. That's what you're saying." Her words were laced with a bitter tone._

_Elena's face contorted with the hurt. Caroline's heart ached for her friend, but only for a moment. The truth was harsh, no matter how she would have worded it._

_"I think you've said enough, Barbie." Damon warned, putting himself protectively between Elena and Caroline. When he saw that she wasn't going to attach again he made a move to grab her arm. Caroline radiated an anger that was unfamiliar to her and that anger grew with each step he made toward her. Her face held an expression of disdain and her hands twitched, just wanting to give in the urge to break his neck for the hell of it._

_With a devilish smirk a thought passed through her clearing mind, Oh, why not?_

_With quick and fluid movement, she flashed over to Damon and twisted his neck. She heard the sickening crack of the bones, but it didn't faze her._

_Moving her hands together, as if she was removing imaginary dirt from her hands she exhaled fully, "So that's how you shut him up."_

_Elena flared up and yelled, "What the hell? What is wrong with you?"_

_Caroline was not surprised by her friend's reaction. In turn she simply turned to Elena and spoke, "How nice of you to finally care enough to ask what's wrong, though it is a little too late in my opinion, but here is goes. I'm tired. I'm so tired of all it. This town. The drama. Everything!" Her voice started rising slowly, "Excuse me if I just want to get away from the same fucking mantra. I'm tired of giving everything and getting nothing in return. What does it give me in the end?" She paused for effect, "Jack with a side of Squat! It always comes down to one thing: you. Elena Gilbert. So, I don't care what any of you do with the cure. Just as long as you leave me the hell out of it."_

_She turned on her heels and spanned the last ten feet to the front door. Slamming the heavy wood behind her she took in a deep breath of the fresh night air before crossing the front law._

_Before she could make it off of the property she heard footsteps running after her. She already knew that it was Stefan._

_"Caroline, please come back." He pleaded._

_Caroline wanted to. The small part of her that loved her friends and would do anything for them wanted to turn around, but the tired, unappreciated part of her won._

_Stopping her forward motion she waited for him to catch up and as much as she wanted to snap at Stefan, she couldn't do it. He didn't deserve it, but she was going to be honest with him. She cared for him that much._

_"Stef, I can't. Please don't ask me again." She wanted to end this briefly._

_"We can talk about this." he tried to console her._

_"What else is there to talk about? It would be a waste of time. I meant every word I said in there. I'm tired. I'm done." There was a determined finality in her voice that made Stefan really take a good look at his young friend._

_Knowing now that arguing with her was futile, he spoke once more to try to at least help her out. "Care, please. Is there anything I can do?"_

_She sighed and looked into his forest green eyes. "Just protect them. They're going to need it. All of them will. And you know what? You were right."_

_Confusion settled on his face. "What about?"_

_"That night when we were talking all of the bad stuff that has happened. What you all did today proves your theory right. We're no better than Klaus is when it comes down to it. The only difference between him and us is that we have people to care about and talk to. Him…thank to you, has one less person in his corner." Without another word she turned around walking away from Stefan and headed for town._

_"What are you going to do?" He called out to her._

_"I don't know." That was the only answer she could give him._

Caroline came back out of her thoughts, still standing a good distance from Klaus, not wanting to get trapped in the barrier with him.

As soon as the witch's spell was dropped, hell was going to break loose. Klaus was just itching to kill the two Gilberts' in retribution, but the blonde vampire still held his attention.

"That still doesn't explain anything. Why are you here?" Klaus asked with anger in his voice but grief written across his face.

Caroline shook her head not knowing the answer herself, "To tell you the truth, I don't even know."

"I'm not one to play the fool, Caroline. You really expect me to believe that you came here of your own free will?" The hybrid sneered at her.

Honestly, she didn't. She didn't expect him think anything of her or of her being here. She had no right to after all her friends had done.

"No, I don't. But you can take it or leave it for what it is." She hoped he could see the honesty in her eyes. She didn't blame him for feeling the way he did. The Salvatore brothers would have acted the same way if the shoe was on the other foot, though she didn't know who out of Stefan and Damon would have acted out worse.

"Well, since leaving is not the choice I seem to have at the moment, I guess I am stuck with you then," Klaus remarked. The beast inside of him demanded vengeance. His thirst for revenge would only be quenched when he had Caroline's friends' blood rain down over the small town of Mystic Falls. The image of his little brother bursting into flames kept repeating in his mind. Never ceasing to stop, no matter how hard he wished for it.

Caroline would never understand the pain of losing a sibling, but she did understand loss, far too well for such a young age too.

"If you're here to give me pity, I suggest you leave before I do something I might regret." The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but the softer side of him that cared for Caroline was being dominated into submission with anger and pain. His body kept shaking with the urge to kill. The monster inside of him kept clawing its way up.

Caroline wasn't the only one who noticed. She still remembered the first night she was a vampire. The urge to kill was so hard to defeat. One can only hold it off for so long, but she knew what could ease his mood.

He needed to feed.

She knew what she had to do.

Carefully she made the first step through the barrier, being rather confused as to how she was able to get through. She wasn't the only one confused but she couldn't focus on Bonnie's containment spell right now, she was stepping into the wolf's den and he was hungry and angry.

Putting on a brave face, she slowly made her way over to Klaus. He remained unmoved, restraining himself from lashing out at her.

Pulling up her sleeve, she pressed her perfectly manicured nail into her wrist, feeling the skin give under her strength. Just the coppery smell of blood enticed Klaus, but Caroline's blood called out to him, making it more tempting than ever. It was so beguiling, like a moth to a flame.

"Do you have even the slightest idea of what you are doing, love?"

She scowled at the redundant question. Of course, she knew what she was doing.

"You need to feed. I'm giving you a choice. You can't hunt being stuck in here with the spell intact," she tried to reason with him. She knew she was crossing certain lines doing this, but there was no other way. It would take too much time to find blood bags, and she was too tired as it was; which left her with this option.

"I'm sure you know how rather…intimate blood sharing is." He watched some of her blood run from the open cut and pool in the palm of her hand, like a crimson offering to him.

She was completely aware. After what she heard from Stefan about the Elena drinking from the elder Salvatore, she had a good idea of what she was doing, and what it would entail. Blood sharing was the last thing she wanted to do with Klaus, but a thirsty hybrid was worse than…well, she already knew how delicate the situation was.

Caroline impatiently snapped. "Just drink before I change my mind."

Without a moment of hesitancy, he closed the distance between them. His eyes changed from stormy dark blue, to fathomless black and gold as he brought her wrist to his mouth with his hands savoring the euphoric taste of her blood. He backed them up into a wall next to the fireplace, sending framed pictures crashing to the floor.

With her back against the wall, she looked down to where his lips were touching her skin and saw the vulnerability that was sewed on his face. She found his transformed face almost handsome; four of his upper teeth replaced with canine fangs and dark lines running under his eyes. The fangs sliced deeper into her skin as he dug for more and more of her precious blood. Caroline felt the sting of his venom enter her blood stream as he reopened her healing wound. His eyes even darkened as he dove deeper into the unexpected pleasure. He latched himself to her as if he hung on for dear life.

The part of blood sharing that she dreaded hit her like a tsunami. She could feel his desperation. All of his raging emotions, anger, confusion, and regret came rushing over her.

Caroline felt him open her wrist once more with his fangs, winching at the slight pain, but she ignored it; she was used to someone taking from her. It didn't hurt her so much anymore.

She was hit again with an onslaught of emotion to the point that they were almost overpowering her. Klaus drinking from her brought out something she had been drastically trying to put down. She never voiced it, but the attraction between the two of them was there. It was easy to ignore it before, but this brought it to a whole new level, to a point she could no longer deny the pull they felt towards each other. It left her mind in a haze. It was almost like having him joined to her, as if his mind was touching or merging with her own.

She felt as if she was betraying everything that made up her being. Everything that kept her grounded was slowly becoming unglued.

He leaned in closer to her. Her mind so hazy from his consumption of her blood that she had no other choice than to hold on to him as he drank. The arm that was not attached to his lips wrapped around his shoulders, steadying her self between his firm body and the wall. It was then she felt something wet fall onto the skin of her hand. Klaus released himself from her wrist. His golden eyes were glazed over as trails of blood dried over his lips.

This was when she finally saw where the moisture had come from. There were wet trails of tears down his face.

Her heart broke for him.

She didn't have to walk into the kitchen to see what had made Klaus react this way. She already knew.

He sunk into his knees, his arms hung limply at his sides. Why? He questioned himself. His thoughts ran through his mind, why did he have to be so weak? Why could he never protect his family? Even since the beginning, he couldn't. First Henrik, then Finn, and now Kol.

He didn't know whom he wanted to kill more, the vampire who came up with the plan or the hunter who welded the white oak. No, death would be just a luxury compared to the torture he would unleash on them for taking away another member of his family. Still, which one? His former two-timing blood bag, or her younger annoying hunter of a brother?

Decisions, decision, he thought. Who to choose?

Caroline's heart ached for his loss. No one deserves this, not even a man as twisted and complicated as Klaus. She coaxed him closer to her as his hybrid eyes faded back to their original state. He remained silent as she enveloped in an embrace. "I'm not leaving you."

Those four words were all it took to break him. He held onto her like a child would cling to his mother. A sob escaped his throat as he cried, his head resting on her taught abdomen. Caroline didn't make a sound, except to hum a lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was little and needed comfort.

She had no idea how long they stayed like this, with her holding him close, and him gripping onto her like she was his salvation. The last time they had this close of contact was when on her birthday, when Klaus saved her from Tyler's hybrid bite. Finally his sobs relented and all she could hear from Klaus was his slow labored breathing, hoarse from his pain.

"You know, Kol said he was coming after me next," his voice cracked as he looked up to meet her compassionate eyes.

"No, I didn't."

"Despite all of the silly things between us, I wanted to save him. But, I couldn't. I was too late. I'm always too late." His voice rose as he spoke through clenched teeth, a few more tears slipping down his rough cheeks. Caroline shushed him gently slightly rocking a little bit as he rubbed the circles on his back.

"I'm sure you did what you could for him. You are not to blame for his death." Caroline fully believed the words she was uttering.

"Everything I do for them is never enough. I'm not enough! No matter how hard I try." His inner turmoil was starting to show now and Caroline's eyes pricked with tears of her own. Seeing him like this brought her inner demons to the forefront of her mind, but she didn't let them show. It wasn't about her tonight.

"I'm always going to be alone. Maybe it's…better this way," he said brokenly.

She had to put an end to the self-deprecating talk, if it continued it would only make him angrier.

Placing her hand on either side of his face, she brought his full attention to her, "Now you listen to me, and you listen good. You're not alone. You still have family, Elijah and Rebekah are still here."

…_and me…_she added silently in her thought.

Things were not going to be the same after tonight and she knew full well that her next actions would forever be on her head now, but she didn't care. Maybe this is what she needed to start doing more often. Only caring for her self. But tonight she would care for another, and be the compassionate young woman that Klaus had come to respect time and time again.

Caroline could care less about their differences and she didn't want to imagine the horrors he had suffered. Tonight all she wanted to do was focus on comforting him.

_**What would it take for things to be quiet, quiet like the snow?  
**__**I know this isn't much but I know I could, I could be better  
**__**I don't think I deserve it, selflessness, find your way into my heart  
**__**All stars could be brighter, all hearts could be warmer**_

_**- "Louder Than Thunder," by The Devil Wears Prada**_


	2. Radioactive

**A/n: Another chapter redone! Thanks to my other new beta! Thanks, Erin!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 2: Radioactive

The Other Side was stirring. The supernatural beings that had passed on were restless as deadly whispers spreading around like a plague. Talk was just the beginning, what was about to unfold would change time forever.

The rules for interacting with the living world were strict, but they were strict for a reason. Altering fate could have dire consequences, but some times their hand was played for them, to get the balance.

Equilibrium was their highest priority. It had to be, it was the only way, and no matter what the stakes were, no matter how much the risk they had to take, the balance of power had to be retained. Tipping the scales of fate could bring catastrophe.

Most times they were unable to intervene until it was too late, forced to just watch the story unfold, even if it doesn't have a good ending.

This time thought they saw what the future would bring if they did not step in. If things kept on the way they were going, Hell on Earth would become a reality. A reality where no one would come out on top, and no one would survive.

The Earth would drown in blood.

The Keepers of the Other Side would need to change something to make sure that the apocalypse wouldn't come to pass. That cause would alter its corresponding effect, saving the world but to save millions, the few must suffer.

They saw the death. Surprised, that the one who had lived his life on a whim was the only one with common sense for once, but now he was among them and could no longer influence those in the world of the living.

This turn of events called for desperate measures, they couldn't let Klaus' retaliation unfold.

They knew what they had to do.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

Waking in the morning, Caroline tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes as they finally fluttered open. When she adjusted to the bright sunlight that flooded the room, she gazed around in confusion. She wasn't in her room, or sleeping in her bed. An involuntary groan came from her mouth as she tried to stretch her sore muscles.

The previous night flooded back to her and she remembered that she was in the Gilbert house. She also realized that she was not alone. Her ears caught the sound of light snoring as she looked down to her chest.

This can't be happening, she groaned to herself.

She sighed, closing her eyes again. Caroline recollected a time when it was a lot simpler to be her. No drama, no love triangles. No witches, vampires, werewolves, and no freaking hybrids.

Sure, it was easier, but she couldn't dwell on it, she had to think about the here and now, and reality was a bitch. For now, all she wanted was a break.

It was too late for all of that now. Her idiotic friends' rash actions had doomed them all. Now with the possibility of the cure hanging over their heads, she could see the idiotic ideas continuing, especially if Damon had anything to do with it.

Caroline ticked off the list of people racing for the cure but it all boiled down to Elena. Damon and Stefan fighting for Elena's love, little Gilbert would do anything for his sister, Bonnie's underlying hatred of vampires drove her to help, and Rebekah just wanted to be human.

Their current advantage was Jeremy. With the Hunter's mark now at its full potential, thanks to the death of Kol, the map to the cure was complete and Elena could get everything she wanted.

Bonnie was teamed up with her new mentor Professor Shane, who despite his wealth of knowledge was beyond creepy. Bonnie was needed to perform the spell that would open the tomb where the cure was kept. After being on the receiving end of one of Bonnie's expression spells, Caroline was even more worried about her friend using that powerful of magic. In the future, she was going to think twice about setting the witch off.

Then there was Rebekah. Trapped in a seventeen year old girl's body for a thousand years, never aging, never getting to fulfill her dreams of marriage and family. If Rebekah hadn't of been so nasty to her, Caroline would almost feel sorry for her…almost.

Stefan was riding the fence between wanting the cure to release Elena from the sire bond and giving Rebekah her every wish. He seemed to be siding more with Rebekah after finding out that Elena and Damon slept together, and while Caroline was happy for him moving on, she too was not comfortable with Elena's relationship with Damon.

So that made up the group looking for the cure, Elena and Damon had Jeremy who had the map, Bonnie and Shane held the magic needed to open the tomb, and Rebekah and Stefan had Silas' tombstone. Once again this left Caroline out of the loop, but since she had no interest in the cure she was too upset about it this time, though none of her friends even bothered to ask her if she wanted the cure.

Then there was Klaus, since there had to be an enemy lurking about.

Caroline slid her hand over her face. Why did all of her thoughts bringing her back to him? Perhaps it was because he was still wrapped around her, sleeping soundly, or it was the deep connection she felt to him as he fed from her last night.

Clearing her head, she decided that she shouldn't even be here, with him of all people. She should have left last night, to be with Tyler, but she felt this incredible need to stay.

Just yesterday, she was at the Lockwood estate spending the day with Tyler, only leaving when she got a text from Stefan about the urgent meeting at the boarding house. Tyler had been distant as of late and she tried to understand the best she could, considering everything that Tyler had been put through. Instead of talking, they had watched movies all day and stuffing themselves full of junk food.

As much as she hated it, Caroline's thoughts drifted back to Klaus, namely what he wanted with the cure. She figured there was a more of secret motive than he was letting on. He was calculating and clever, and always seemed to have something up his sleeve.

Maybe he wanted to get to it so that he could have an advantage over his enemies, or to give it to Rebekah. Through his rough relationship with his sister, he loved her dearly and wanted to see her happy.

Would Klaus offer her the cure? Caroline questioned herself. Since her friends didn't seem to be interesting in her wishes or wants, perhaps Klaus would think of her, like he always seemed to do.

No, she refused to dwell on her disappointing friendships and inner demons right now; instead her mind pondered what she would do with the cure if it were offered to her.

There had been a time when she was human, that she wanted a normal life and everything that entailed. She wanted to go to college, marry a good guy, travel, and have a family. That future was ripped away from her though, by a certain brunette vampire. She couldn't regret that she was now a vampire herself. Caroline felt that she was a better person now than when she was human.

Caroline had allowed Klaus to sleep a little longer while she was lost in her thoughts, but now the stinging in her wrist was becoming unbearable. She had allowed him to feed from her without taking in any of his healing blood.

The blood sharing had been her choice, and she felt it had been necessary. Despite her disagreements with her friends, she didn't want anyone to get hurt from Klaus' exploding rage.

Caroline's chuckle was bittersweet. Even now, she was still looking out for them. She was still protecting them from the man who had shown time and time again that he cared about her more than her friends.

Goodness Caroline, she chastised herself. How fucked up have you let your life become?

She didn't know what possessed her to comfort Klaus like she did, she was a caring person by nature, but not with him of all people. Maybe if she had walked further into town, or went to hunt in the woods last night would have turned out differently. Waking up next to him was the last thing she wanted.

She looked at the window again as more sunlight shone into the room. She needed to get the hell out of here and back home.

Away from him, she thought.

"Klaus," she spoke his name shaking his shoulder. "Klaus, wake up."

He woke to her voice, soft and song like. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light. He realized where he was, and stiffly got up from the floor leaving the warm body of Caroline behind.

The realization that he had just spent the night with Caroline hit him like a brick wall, it was a shame that it wasn't under the right circumstances. He was embarrassed for showing weakness in front of her and for not being able to keeping himself in control. He hated weakness. Weakness was his personal enemy. His internal enemies were harder to deal with, unlike the external ones, like the two Gilberts' who were just added last night.

He could still see the burned body of his little brother in the kitchen. His lips pressed into a fine line in anger, it would take more than a good nights sleep and Caroline's sweet blood to alleviate his pain. He was then reminded that he would have to tell Elijah about Kol, which he was dreading.

Stefan probably already told Rebekah, so that one less headache to deal with. She would be devastated, but knowing her guarded, but soft heart, she would keep going in the race for the cure. There was no telling however, how Elijah will react to the news or the anger filled aftermath.

As honorable as Elijah may be, he was very protective of family, even with their faults and sins. The unpredictability of an angered Elijah made him very dangerous; almost an equal to Klaus if the right buttons were pushed.

Klaus snorted at the thought, emphasizing the work almost.

His fists clenched tightly with his knuckles turning white. The only thing that stood between him and his charred brother was the damn barrier spell that the bloody Bennett witch had casted. Soon enough, when he got out of this pathetic excuse for a prison cell, he was going to make good on his threats. He will hunt all of them to their ends. Klaus hoped they knew what he had coming for them.

He felt a tingle run down his spine at the sheer thought of the hunt.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

Back at the boarding house, everyone was prepping and packing for the trip. They had everything they needed to bring. All they needed to do was to bust out Professor Shane from the police station, and hit the road.

"Damon, are you almost ready?" Stefan asked, leaning against the doorframe of his older brother's bedroom.

"Yeah," Damon sighed, sliding on his leather jacket. "Still feeling a little sore from of a certain blonde vampire, but I'll deal. Where are Judgy-Gone-Dark and our little hunter? They should be here by now." He concluded that the only reason he hung around these kids was for Elena and his baby bro.

"They're on their way. They spent the night at Matt's. Don't be impatient." Stefan paused, not wanting to seem imposing, "Where's Elena?"

The sounds of boots on the old hardwood floors announced that Rebekah was heading their way. She strolled in with a scowl on her face. Damon couldn't even utter a reply to Stefan before Rebekah cut in with a disdainful smirk. "Probably still feeling sorry for herself as usual, because the sweet, innocent doppelganger bitch can't handle the truth. I don't usually like Caroline, but I have to give it to her, she may not be as annoying as I thought. She's got spunk."

Damon's eyes narrowed at the blonde. First Blondie and now Barbie Klaus. This was the second time in two days that someone had insulted Elena. Hadn't they hurt her enough already? "Stefan, make sure you keep a good leash on her. There's been enough Elena-bashing."

"Careful, Damon," Rebekah warned the elder brother, walking over to him with spite in her eyes. "If you keep this up Caroline won't be the only one who will broke your neck for mouthing off. And trust me, I'm much worse than the baby vampire when I'm angry."

The only reason why she hadn't run a stake through Damon or Elena's chests was Stefan. The relationship, or rather partnership they had was going along smoother than she expected and she wasn't going let anything mess that up. Though the scorn and contempt she had for Elena just grew to a larger scale after Stefan had told her the news about her brother's death.

Damon locked eyes with the female Original, sending daggers her way. Not wanting to get into it with an already sore neck, he just turned his gaze to his younger brother and said, "I'll check on Elena."

Damon exited the room, leaving just Rebekah and Stefan. Rebekah snorted to herself. "Typical. I really don't get you sometimes, Stefan."

Stefan walked up to her crossing his arms casually. "Not many people do."

She slapped his arm. "Don't try to be funny. I'm being serious."

"Okay, now I'm putting on my serious face." His eyebrows delved down making his face show more of his worry wrinkles.

"Whatever. I just don't see how you can stay in the same room and not want to vomit from all the…I don't know what you call it. You know, the way he grovels at her feet. It makes me want to turn out my stomach. It's sickening," she said disgusted.

Stefan couldn't help but be a bit amused with the blonde. "Well, you don't have to worry. I'm over it Elena. It doesn't bother me."

She arched a brow at him skeptically. "Actions speak louder than words. And I know you're lying, Stefan. Be honest."

It was time for him to fess up, "Alright, it bothers me a little, but who knows? Maybe…" he paused for effect, knowing that he had caught Rebekah's interest.

"Maybe what?" she asked impatiently, not wanting to play games while talking about something serious.

"Maybe whatever this is between us might be…better for me. So we can just take this day by day and see where it goes from here," he said.

Rebekah snuck in a rare, but meaningful smile at him. He returned it with a smirk. They leaned closer until their lips were almost…

**Ding Dong****!**

Their almost kiss was interrupted by the door bell, Rebekah huffed in annoyance while Stefan wondered if Bonnie and Jeremy had finally arrived.

"Bloody hell! What does a girl have to do…" Rebekah was so aggravated that she couldn't even finish her sentence. Not to mention that with Elena and Damon's vampire hearing she knew anything she said about her relationship with Stefan would be over heard. "Just tell those two damn lovebirds to hurry it up! We need to get going."

She huffed before going out to hallway making her way down the stairs. Stefan shook his head thinking to himself, Is it just me or does this keep getting more screwed up by the minute?

He followed the flustered Original to make sure she didn't cause any trouble with Elena. Walking down the staircase, he saw Bonnie and Jeremy down by the door with everyone's bags, well except Damon and Elena's.

"We're all set here," Bonnie said in greeting as she saw Stefan walk into the foyer, "Are Damon and Elena are still coming?" she asked.

"With any hope, they decide to stay here and we can just go without them." Rebekah quipped. "All in favor for leaving them behind, raise your hand." She rolled her eyes when she was the only person who's hand was up. Rebekah scowled with a huff, "You lot are no fun."

"Everyone ready for a road trip?" Damon's proud voice echoed from the top of the staircase, followed by Elena who was carrying both of their bags.

"About time," Rebekah muttered.

Elena struggled to ignore the Original, but it was harder than expected with her as a newly born vampire hearing and her uncontrollable emotions. She felt that Rebekah would never give her a break. "Have any of you heard from Caroline?"

The witch shook her head solemnly, "Nothing. No text or call back from her. She must have her phone off."

No one said anything else about Caroline's blow up yesterday. Honestly, they didn't blame her for not wanting to talk to them. Well, except for Damon who didn't particularly care for the blonde vampire, and Rebekah who wasn't around to see Bonnie inflict her expression power upon Caroline. In fact, no one had heard much from Tyler or Caroline ever since the untimely death of Mayor Lockwood.

"We're going to have to split up in more than one vehicle," Elena pointed out the obvious, much to everyone's annoyance. Or maybe just to Rebekah's annoyance, but that was typical for the two girls. Elena seemed to have that effect on the blonde.

"If we are splitting up, there's no way I'm going with you or Damon, though it would be kind of fun." Rebekah mused, trying to get a rise out of the couple once more. "Wouldn't be so good for you two, but could be very entertaining for me."

Placing her finger to her chin in thought she finally spoke, "I could stake you in the heart with a piece of the car. Oh, or I could drive us off the road into the forest, hoping that a tree would impale one…or both of you. What do you think?" she asked sardonically towards Elena.

Elena gulped feeling very uncomfortable around the blonde Original vampire. She expected the verbal bashing, but was dreading any physical attacks. Rebekah could kill her, and everyone in the room, within a heartbeat. She definitely needed a white oak stake or maybe even a dagger for protection.

Stefan stepped in between the girls as a mediator, as if he could stop a fight if it happened, "Okay, that's enough. I'll divide everyone up, so bring the drama down a few notches."

"Everyone look out, Stefan has on his big boy pants today." Damon remarked sarcastically. "I like this 'take charge' Stefan a whole lot better than the choir boy Stefan." Damon pointed out with his signature smirk stuck on his face.

Stefan ignored his older brother and resumed speaking. "Bonnie, Rebekah, and myself are going to check on Klaus and make sure the binding spell is holding up. You, Jeremy, and Elena will bust Professor Shane out of jail."

"Can't wait." Damon mimed excitement, "Come on, Elena and little Gilbert."

"Spare us your theatrics Damon and just go." Rebekah grumbled under breath.

"Enough." Bonnie had about enough with bickering between the two. No body wanted an angry Bennett witch all hypes up on expression so instead of continuing with their back and forth they all headed for the door. Once outside Jeremy, Elena, and Damon got into his blue Chevy Camaro while the others went in Bonnie's Toyota.

"Mind if I drive?" Stefan asked stepping to the driver's side, holding his hands up for the keys. Bonnie threw them his way from the passenger side as Rebekah called shot-gun. With a sigh, Bonnie slipped into the back seat by herself.

As Stefan started the car, he watched in the rear-view mirror as Damon's car pull out into the opposite direction heading towards the police station. He glanced over at Rebekah, "Are you sure you're up to this, seeing your brothers like this?"

She exhaled deeply watching the tree line as the car started off in to town. "Everyone in my family is screwed up in some way or another, and trust me, it was like that before we were even vampires. I know what's at stakes Stefan. All of my life I've been there for Nik, but I need to make a change. This is my chance. My chance to do something I want. I'm not going to let anyone take that away from me. Not even Niklaus."

The green-eyed witch was surprised at the deep reaction coming from Rebekah. Maybe it shouldn't be that surprising, because deep underneath the cold, vindictive exterior was a girl who just wanted to be loved. She couldn't hold that against Rebekah because they is what everyone wants.

Bonnie didn't say anything the whole drive to the Gilbert house. She couldn't help the bad feeling of apprehension that settled in her gut.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

Caroline just watched as Klaus paced back and forth in front of the barrier like a predator in a cage. He had already destroyed every breakable item he could find in his confined cell. The familiar home items mocked him. This wasn't his home, he didn't belong here, and he couldn't even move out of the living room to pay his respects to his brother. His rage set in a pattern of actions. He would pace first, then last out on another possession of the Gilberts, get tired of it, and start over pacing again.

As much as she wanted to say something, she was for once not chatty this time. She didn't know what to say without setting him off. She couldn't take it any longer. Carefully and softly she spoke, "Would you please just stop that? You're scaring me."

It was the first time she ever admitted aloud she was scared of anything. Usually, she's defiant. She never lets people get to her. She always had a retort or an insult to fire at Damon when he targets her. She made sure with Tyler that she wasn't going to be pushed around. Even to Klaus too, she held her head high. Not once did she ever show any fear to the hybrid, but the side of him that was showing now made her question if she was safe around him and how strong his sense of control was.

Klaus stared at the young vampire with steely, but tired eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. The overcoming guilt and regret was already eating him up already. He didn't need any more added weight.

"You know I'm going to kill them, right?" he threw the question out there to see what she would do. Judging from her reaction, hearing her breath hitch meant she wasn't too pleased about it. "I mean it, Caroline. I advise you not to interfere in this."

Normally, Caroline could shake things off, but she couldn't this time. Hearing the authenticity behind his words sent a deep chill down her spine knowing he would do it. Her friends started a war with an enemy they couldn't beat. This was a total different level of jeopardy they got themselves in. And now she's the one playing hero because she may be the only chance of stopping him or at least delay.

So much for Caroline being done with those people.

"Klaus, I know my friends are stupid as hell, reckless, and can't see beyond their own noses, but don't hurt them. They were only defending themselves," the words came out of her before she could stop them. She fidgeted with the sleeve of her cardigan, pulling it down over the spreading wound from Klaus bite.

Klaus gave out a low chuckle. "There you go again, love. You're defending those who don't deserve your protection."

Now, Caroline was getting angry again. "Don't assume to know anything about me Klaus." She spit his name back as him.

"Caroline, you're being defensive. You're lying to yourself. It's not your fault I can read you like an open book. You know deep down I'm telling the truth. You don't deserve them. You're made for so much more than this little town and your little town friends." Klaus said honestly, which was a rare thing even when he was with her.

"I don't remember asking you for your opinion," she said lowly trying to ignore him turning her back away from him in a corner childishly. Since when did the topic of conversation turn to her? As much as she usually loved attention, this wasn't a good time for it.

He just shook his head watching her blatantly ignoring him. She'll never learn like this. Klaus didn't want to be cruel with her, but he knew this was the only way he could tell her. He couldn't sugar code it.

"Deep down we both know the truth, sweetheart. All they think of you as is…expendable…"

It was at that moment that she snapped. Her eyes grew dark with the pulsing veins making an appearance with her fangs showing as her lips curled into a snarl.

"Shut up!" The blonde vampire roared at him like a fearless lioness.

Klaus couldn't help but notice this feral and wild side of Caroline he had yet to see. It pleased the beast inside of him in a way he couldn't explain. The battle for dominance came to an end when Klaus pushed Caroline into a wall holding her shoulders tightly, but not enough to hurt her.

"Why do you keep fighting me so? Why can't you just see and accept the truth?" He was becoming frustrated with the young woman's dilemma.

Caroline knew full and well why she kept fighting on, though there really was no use. She wasn't a quitter; she was a survivor to the end. Her friends had hurt her and let her down more than once. Hell, even her boyfriend, who was supposed to be her one and only true love, had hurt her more than she cared to admit. They kept her glued, no matter how much pain she received, she would defend them to the end.

Struggling to get out of his hold, Caroline brought her hands up to his wrists, pulling in a useless effort to get away from him.

Klaus cause the sight of the wound out of the corner of his eyes as Caroline pushed at his arms. "You are hurt." He stated plainly.

Looking down at the wrist that he had fed from last night, Caroline saw that the bite was now turning black. She was rather surprised that she wasn't in more pain, but her mind had been rather occupied this morning.

Dropping his hands away from her shoulders, Klaus stepped back and bit into his wrist, offering the dripping opening to her. Caroline knew that if she didn't drink that it would only get worse and the hybrid bite was fatal to her.

So taking in a deep breath, Caroline took a half step towards him, taking his arm into her hands and brought his wrist to her lips.

His blood sang to her. It was like the sweetest nectar and if allowed to, she would have taken her fill. She had barely taken in three or four pulls of is healing blood before she felt Klaus' body tense and a familiar scent hit her nose.

"Fancy seeing you here, mate. It's about time." Klaus turned his head towards the entry of the home to see his two-timing hybrid staring they down.

Caroline ripped her lips away from Klaus' wrist, wiping the blood from her mouth as she tried to put more distance between her and the Original. "Tyler, it isn't what you think."

"Caroline, get out of here." Tyler said to her stalking his way up to the elder hybrid.

Klaus immediately got on the defensive as his fangs showed in his mouth and his eyes shown gold. There was no way he was going down at the hands of the Lockwood boy.

"No! Both of you just stop. This is ridiculous," she ranted at them, hoping some kind of common sense would develop here.

"I'm inclined to agree with your girlfriend, Tyler. You don't want this to get out of hand," Klaus said.

Tyler's rage grew ten fold. "Yeah, sure…and I suppose between trying to get in your pants and blood sharing with him, that Klaus failed to tell you what really happened." His voice rose as he was now yelling almost directly in Caroline's face.

Klaus frowned with his jaw set, but he didn't say a word. Caroline, on the other hand, was blowing a gasket. "First off, you don't get to talk to me like that Tyler and second, what the hell is he talking about Klaus?"

Tyler decided to ignore her first point and answer for Klaus instead, "Remember how my mom died, right? Well turns out she didn't just die because of one too many," his eyes slid over to Klaus, waiting for Caroline to make the connection.

Caroline glanced back at Klaus in disbelief. Looking back to Tyler for conformation, Caroline's heart broke even more. She gasped, turning to Klaus, as her eyes held unshed tears, "How could you?"

"All right, Tyler. You got me. Such a big victory for you, isn't it?" Klaus didn't dare look at Caroline and her hurt and judgmental eyes, "You took my hybrids from me. Did you really think you were their leader, their true alpha? You are so utterly blinded by your own ego that you forgot who your Alpha is!" Klaus was standing right at the barrier, taunting the young wolf.

Caroline heard the tell tale sounds of bones breaking that send an unwelcome feeling of panic through her veins. Tyler was trying to shift.

"Klaus! Stop it." Caroline pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears. He kept provoking Tyler.

"You want to know why I did it?" he asked walking the line of the barrier. "It was first and foremost disobedience! Not to mention the Ungratefulness you showed towards me for saving you from the pain of shifting every full moon. What is worse is that you had the audacity to think you could beat me. No…" Klaus chuckled darkly, "…you thought you would beat me. Shame on you, mate."

Tyler crouched down in pain as more bones broke, his body twisting from his human form. She started to back away from Tyler, afraid of being caught in the crossfire, but Klaus didn't end it there. He made sure to give the final blow.

"But do you want to know the real reason I killed your mother and those twelve disloyal ingrates?"

Among the blinding rage that pulse in his mind, and the contorting of his limbs, he croaked out an angry reply, "Because you are a monster?"

Klaus bent down closer in a crouch, and whispered in his ear. "Looks who's calling the kettle black." He smirked at the enraged boy, "No Tyler, I took everything you ever cared about from you because we are all alone in the end. You have nothing and nobody…just like me."

Forgetting his transition and with a ferocious yell, Tyler charged at the Klaus. Both of their supernatural facial features presence as they battled. They both got some good hits in, each of them fought hard for the upper hand. Caroline was helpless, and she hated it. Both Tyler and Klaus had suffered enough loss as it is, but this was just plain suicidal.

Then Tyler grabbed a stake that was hidden in his jacket. Both Caroline and Klaus recognized what it was in an instant. It was white oak stake created by mama Mikealson, the one that had already been responsible for Klaus' death once.

"You see this?" Tyler waved the stake in front of the Original hybrid. "Not such a badass anymore, are you?"

Klaus, not showing any fear, looked down at the impulsive pup and called his bluff. "You know you can't kill me without bringing my bloodline down with me. Which if you have forgotten includes all of your little Mystic Falls friends."

"You think I care? Like you said before, you took everything away from me. Thank to you I have nothing!" Tyler roared, again waving around the white oak.

It was then that Caroline saw the contempt in Tyler's eyes, mixed with hurt and disappointment. The heated glare wasn't just reserved for Klaus. While the contempt and hatred seemed to be for the hybrid, Tyler looked at her with such disappointment.

"Tyler, I didn't hurt you. You have to believe me. There is no reason to fight, you still have me, he didn't take me away from you." She moved in front of Tyler, trying to console him, and effectively putting herself between the two hybrids.

"I can smell him all over you, Caroline. I'm not an idiot. So don't lie to me. He's been after you since day one." Tyler's eyes shown with anger, "I may not have been a hybrid for long, but even I know the intimacy of blood sharing, and what hurts the most out of all of this is that you did it with him! Don't you know what you've done?" He asked her as if she had just committed murder. "You would have done better to just sleep with him and get it over with."

Caroline ignored his sneering final remark, "He needed to feed Tyler. I couldn't just leave him here like this." She lamely explained, "I did it to protect everyone…if he hadn't of fed…"

"Oh, look at little Caroline, always being the martyr." Tyler knew his words were hurting her but he was just so anger and couldn't stop, "You can't just do that, Caroline. Especially with him! You don't know what you have done." He lowered his head, shaking it in disappointment, "Just forget about it…just move out of the way so I can kill this son of a bitch and be done with it all." He pushed her, causing her fall onto the hardwood floor with a thud.

"Come on, little wolf. Why don't you man up and actually try to finish me off already." Klaus sneered at Tyler.

Tyler came at Klaus again, but the Original hybrid was able to block the stake with his hands, the silver clad tip hovered a few inches above his chest. Klaus struggled with the young hybrid as the stake inched towards his heart. With a strong shove, Klaus threw Tyler against the wall, making a deep hole into the drywall.

Caroline got up off the floor, feeling strong with Klaus' blood flowing through her. No one else deserved to die because of what happened in the past, not even Klaus. She shouldn't care about the villain. She should have been cheering Tyler on, but if Klaus dies, she dies. Also after last night, seeing Klaus so broken and in misery, she couldn't stand to see him hurt anymore. So Caroline listened to her heart instead of listening to the logic screaming in her brain.

She watched for a few more seconds as the two hybrids battled it out. Tyler started to get a lucky advantage over Klaus as he tried to regain his breath and keep up with the younger hybrid's stamina.

"Tyler, stop." She demanded of him, but he wouldn't listen to her.

"Stop!" Caroline screamed as she jumped in front of the fallen Klaus.

Everything from there moved in slow motion. Tyler looked down, the stake no longer in his hand. He stepped back in sheer shock of what he had just done.

Caroline's eyes gazed down at the stake sticking out of her chest. She glanced back at Tyler in shock as a searing pain emitted from her chest. A feeling of liquid wildfire spread throughout of her body, her mouth hung open as her knees buckled under her, dropping her to the hard ground as a result.

Everything became a blur, colors meshed, as voices and sounds became distorted. She couldn't decipher one form from the other and it wasn't long before death would take her. Surprisingly, instead of darkness shrouding over her eyes, bright white light overcame her numbing every sensation in her body.

In that instant, Caroline was no more.

_**I'm waking up to ash and dust**_  
_**I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust**_  
_**I'm breathing in the chemicals**_  
_**I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out of the prison bars**_  
_**This is it, the apocalypse**_

_**- "Radioactive," by Imagine Dragons**_


	3. Missing

**A/n: Hello, lovelies. This is a better and more clearer version of Louder Than Thunder. Hope you enjoy the third chapter. I actually did too. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 3: Missing

In the car ride to the Gilbert's, Rebekah couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had in the pit of her stomach, though she would never let her unease show to the others. To her surprise, in that moment Stefan inched his hand over to hers, grasping it gently as if he knew that she needed comfort.

The subtle gesture from the younger Salvatore didn't go unnoticed by Bonnie, and she didn't dare say a word about it, instead she focused on the task they had in front of them. She was going to need all the concentration she could muster to deal with Klaus and the amount of damage he could cause in the blink of an eye.

The young witch regretted what she had done to Caroline last night. She never intended to hurt her best friend, but expression was a completely new level of power and she was still learning the ropes on how to harness it. Bonnie was sure that she could handle it though. She was determined to. No one was ever going to control her again.

As they pulled onto the Gilbert's street, Rebekah and Stefan's enhanced hearing picked up unusual sounds coming from inside the large two-story house. It sounded like a fight was in progress.

"Something's not right," Stefan pointed out.

"I can hear Nik, but there are two other voices also. They sound familiar." Rebekah surmised.

Stefan shushed them and listened more carefully as the sounds became clearer; shattering glass, cracking of plaster and drywall, and furniture breaking. It could only be explained as pure chaos. Finally he was close enough to pick up scents, another hybrid and a vampire.

He knew the vampire's scent well, and his insides ran cold thinking of her being in the house, involved in the fight.

_"Stop!"_

He heard a female voice yell, and that voice belonged to only one person, Caroline. Though fear for his friend made him park the car a little faster in the driveway, it wasn't the sound that made him completely terrified to his core.

It was the sickening crunch of a stake cutting through the skin, bone, and heart of a vampire.

Rebekah, Stefan, and Bonnie raced out of the car, up the front steps and into the house as fast as they could. Rebekah, having never been invited in, was stuck outside on the porch.

"Shit!" The blonde Original cursed.

Stefan and Bonnie, now inside the house, came to an abrupt stop at the stomach-turning sight. Everyone was silent. No one dared to move. Caroline staggered backwards, her eyes shifting from Tyler and then back to the stake that sat in her chest. With no more energy left, she sunk to her knees waiting for the ground to break her fall, but she was enveloped in the warm arms of Klaus.

"No!" Bonnie screamed, "This can't be happening. Caroline, no!"

Tyler seethed with rage, "Get away from her!" he yelled at the elder hybrid who cradled Caroline in his arms.

Bonnie and Stefan ran through the barrier without any effort. There was no time for delay as Stefan tried to restrain Tyler, which was easier said than done due to Tyler's strength as a hybrid. Stefan had to resort to twisting the younger hybrid's neck to make him stop thrashing.

Bonnie's emotions were on overdrive as she came upon her best friend. She pulled the stake out and placed her hands over the hole in Caroline's chest.

Klaus held Caroline to his chest as she tried to look up, but her blue eyes were glazed over. She was unable to focus her eyes as the blindness of death came over them. Her smooth creamy skin was decaying and succumbing to a dull, deathly gray as her life force drained out of her. The hope of her being saved died away bit by bit as Klaus heard life drifting away from her more and more with every passing second.

"Heal her, witch! Now!" Klaus yelled at Bonnie.

"I'm trying!" Bonnie desperately concentrated, calling on the power deep within her. When her adrenaline kicked in she could feel the rush of magic streaming through her veins. She chanted the spell to heal Caroline, but she could tell that something was wrong. It wasn't working. Something else, beyond her power, was happening, preventing her healing spell to take.

"Why is it not working?" Bonnie questioned franticly. "Caroline, just hold on a little longer." Hope for her friend was fading fast, but Bonnie had to try everything she could to save her friend. She couldn't let their last time together be the awful fight from yesterday.

"What is going on?" Rebekah called from the door in a panic, "Will someone please tell me what is happening?" Trying to see into the living room where all the commotion was coming from, she scanned the rest of the interior or the home, her eyes coming to rest of the blackened body of her brother just lying there on the kitchen floor. The sheer sight of Kol's dead body paralyzed her on the spot.

As Bonnie's gaze lifted from where Klaus was tightly holding onto Caroline, she saw someone she never thought she would see again. Sheila Bennett stood there with a deep look of disappointment and urgency.

"What have you done, Bonnie Bennett?"

"Grams…" Bonnie was able to breath out the name before tears for her friend and for her grandmother over took her.

All of her concentration broke and she was teetering off the edge of losing control. The powerful magic was slipping from her fingers, letting lose everywhere. The room kept shaking, light bulbs popped, and the floor trembled underneath their feet.

"Do you know what you have done, child? You have gone too far into the dark magic for this. What were you thinking?" Her Gram's words just kept running together, Bonnie's mind was confused beyond outwardly comprehension.

"There are consequences for your actions, Bonnie. I wish you would have heeded our warnings about expression. Oh, my poor baby, I'm so sorry." That was the last thing the ghost of the elder witch said before a surge of immense power swept through the room. Everyone felt it, even Klaus, and he was supposed to be the most powerful creature in the world.

Caroline's eyes tried desperate to stay open and find something to focus on, but they darkened more and more as the seconds ticked on. Klaus's mind filled with dread as he held her close. Everyone felt the inevitable. Soon, the last inch of Caroline's life was taken away from her.

"No! Caroline!" Bonnie sobbed, "Grams, do something! Care, come back!" Bonnie pleaded with her ancestors on the other side for mercy. She tried to muster every piece of her power to bring Caroline back, but it was futile.

Caroline, so full of light, life, and love was gone.

As her sobs started to subside, thanks to a comforting gesture from Stefan, Bonnie realized that something else inside of her felt amiss. She felt hollow, as if her very soul had been taken.

Then it hit her; it was gone, her magic was gone. Bonnie was cracking. She didn't know who she was if she didn't have her powers. Being a witch meant everything to her. More so, she had let down everyone, her Grams, her friends, and mostly herself.

A gut-wrenching scream broke from the powerless witch's throat; all of this was becoming too much for her. Stefan knelt down next to Bonnie, shuddering at the sight of Caroline's gray body. He gathered Bonnie to him, holding her silently, trying as he may to calm her down. Rebekah could only watch from the porch in vain, hearing the sounds of agony.

Nobody knew that the worst was about to come.

Whatever humanity Klaus had left inside of him vanished the instant Caroline lost her life. Her graying body was just a cold reminder of all the things that he had cared about and consequently lost. The sunlight from the morning winter sky silently mocked him; there was no more light in Klaus' world, for Caroline had taken it all with her.

Caroline's light, which could shine through anything, including his dark and dreadful heart, had dimmed into nothing, gone from this world forever.

Darkness was all that was coming for Mystic Falls and there was no stopping it.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

Numbness. That was the first feeling Caroline had when she awake. Well, that's if she could call numbness a feeling. Never the less, numb was the only word to describe her current state. She couldn't feel anything. Her eyes felt too heavy to open, and she felt too weak to even try and move.

She would fade in and out, half of the time dreaming of familiar places and people, but the other half was spent thinking of memories she couldn't place. Everything was too vague to tell if it was real or not, and everything moved too fast to be recognized. All she could see were shapes and colors.

Then there was the darkness. It was a comfortable darkness, the kind that only accompanies dreamless sleep, where you don't necessarily want to wake up.

Gradually her strength came back to her. Her senses started to pick up again, slowly bringing her back up to par. Her blue eyes finally opened after what felt like a century, and she tired pulling herself up to regain momentum in her legs, but they were shaking and wobbly like a newborn foal. Determined she pushed herself up until she was firmly standing on her own two feet.

Caroline's eyes widen at the breathtaking sight in front of her. She recognized it as Lake Monticello. She couldn't help but smiled to herself, relishing the few good memories she had left with her dad in this place. He used to take her to the lake when she was younger. The water was always just right and she would swim all day long. If she remembered correctly, the last time she had been here was when she was ten years old. It was right before her dad made the decision to divorce her mom and leave them behind. Shaking those negative thoughts out of her head, she focused on the beautiful scenery.

The lake's calm waters shimmered as the sunlight bounced its afternoon rays across the surface, reflecting like diamonds. Her feet moved across the old wood of the dock, causing it to creek, as she walked out over the water. The smell of fresh pine filled her scenes as a southern wind blew gently, kissing her face with warmth. The air wrapped around her like a warm blanket. The sky was a crisp cyan blue with not a cloud in sight. The glittering water sloshed gently against the dock in a repetitive rhythm that put Caroline's mind at ease.

The sunlight on her face felt inviting. She closed her eyes and allowed her body to be bathed in the summer warmth.

In panic, Caroline's eyes shot open, looking down to her hands. Her daylight ring was nowhere to be found, yet she was soaking in the sun.

She should have burned to a crisp by now. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, but instead of dwelling on that feeling her eyes wondered off to the tempting waters of the lake. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Might as well take advantage of it while I can," Caroline said to herself.

She took off her shoes and jacket, laying them in a pile on the dock. Now only in her white camisole and skinny jeans, she stretched her arms above her head, before reaching for the hem of her shirt. Caroline was startled when she heard a smooth voice break the tranquil silence.

"Oh, please don't stop on my account, darling. I love a good strip tease."

Caroline whipped around, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets in surprise. _It can't be_, Caroline thought in shock, _he's dead._

It was impossible. She recognized him right away, having just seen his burned body in the Gilbert house. An older memory of him flickered up, at the Mystic Grill, when she had worked with the 'Scooby Gang' as Operation: Blonde Distraction. She remembered seeing another young man with Klaus, as she played hard to get; that was Kol. She vaguely remembered him while he was alive and tried to suppress the visions of him dead.

"Kol, I presume?"

The dark-haired man bowed at the waist, as if she were royalty. "At your service, my lady."

Caroline wondered if all the Mikaelson men had that alluring, yet deadly charm that seemed to ooze off them like sweat. She didn't know which one of them was the most deadly since each one of them had their own specific twisted signature. Elijah had his stoic sense of morality, Klaus with his manipulative yet almost humane ways, and then there was Kol with his mischief.

Caroline had to get out of her own head, there was no time for this, she had to figure out what was going on, and why she was here with Kol of all people.

"What on Earth is going on?" She asked.

Kol cocked his head to side, giving her a mischievous grin. "Funny you should ask it that way seeing how we are no longer on Earth." His tone was full of amusement, but he continued once he saw that she did not share his sense of humor, "Honestly, you don't remember?" He asked in disbelief, "You're dead, Caroline. You're boyfriend broke your heart…literally."

That's when everything came rushing back in full force. Caroline stumbled back a bit, trying to wrap her mind around what Kol had just told her. Flashes of the night before replayed in her head like a movie. The memory of Tyler's hands plunging the white oak stake in to her chest left her mind baffled.

What was most surprising about the whole situation was that she had died protecting Klaus of all people.

"If I am dead…does that mean I'm in heaven?" Caroline wasn't particularly religious, but she did believe there was a God out there and some sort of afterlife besides the other side.

"Not exactly," Kol eluded.

"So you are here to welcome me to the other side?" Questions flooded her mind, like where were all the other supernatural people who had died, or how long was she really going to have to be around Kol?

"You could say that," Kol said with a smile, "but we aren't really on the other side per say, this is more like limbo. We still have our vampire abilities, minus the whole burning in the sun thing since this is all from your imagination." He waved his hand around the lake view.

Caroline frowned unsatisfied with his answer. She huffed out a hot breath crossing her arms over her chest, "Will you just cut the crap and tell me what's going on? Why am I stuck in limbo…with _you_?"

Kol sighed. "You are wound so tight, darling. You were always a feisty one, too bad my brother never got the chance to ruffle those feathers."

Caroline had enough of his games and quite frankly was going to completely ignore his comment about Klaus. "If you're not going to help me and this is just a waste of time, I am going to go enjoy the lake." She turned away from him taking a few steps back towards the shore, but he was faster than her. He appeared in front of her, blocking her way.

The pupils of his dark eyes dilated, "Stop, and calm down."

His command resonated through her brain, forcing her to do his bidding. She hated being compelled, so while her body was forced to stop, her mind was seething.

Kol wasn't done with her yet though, "Now strip."

Bewildered by his request, a scowl appeared on her lips. Planning to draw this out as long as possible, she first reached for her socks. Words couldn't express how vexed she was with him.

He still had not stopped her as she popped the button to her jeans. She hesitated for just a moment before sliding her thumbs into the belt loops, ready to pull the tight jeans down her legs.

"Oh, I'm only joshing you," he laughed. "Though I would love for you to continue, I have a feeling my big brother would find a way to punish me for it even in the afterlife, so please keep your pants on." He lowered himself down to sit on the dock, gesturing for her to join him.

Caroline sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted to be reduced to was some flighty Original vampire's personal stripper.

"Why am I here?" She asked one last time, trying to finally get some answers.

She watched as Kol's earlier mischievous demeanor faded into seriousness and what she thought might be dread. Caroline's interest was peaked as to what could caused Kol to put on such an expression.

"As I said before, you haven't passed on to the other side yet. The Gate Keepers are holding you here and sent me as a sort of messenger." He said looking over the view of the lake.

"There's more to it than you're letting on. Why are they holding me here?"

Kol was not known for being sincere about anything, but he had a job to do. There was no way to softening the blow. "You didn't just die by some random chance, darling. Your death was a part of a greater plan."

"What are you talking about?" Caroline questioned. She was more confused now than before. She couldn't fathom how she could be part of a plan set in motion by the supernatural spirits, or why she had to die for this plan to work. "What plan, and who are the Gate Keepers?"

"The Gate Keepers are a sort of counsel for the Other Side. They act as watchers for the supernatural being that are still living and when something bad is about to happen on Earth, they intervene to save humanity." Kol had only been dead for a day longer than Caroline, but since he was delivering this message to Caroline, he had been briefed on the counsel. "As for the _'greater plan'_, your guess is as good as mine."

Caroline huffed, "So basically they sent you here to tell me nothing."

Being the easy going guy he was, Kol let her remark roll of his back, "I'm not completely useless," he smirked. "Have you ever heard of Silas?"

"I've heard the name mentioned with all the 'cure' talk, and Rebekah has his tomb stone, but that is as far as my knowledge goes." Since she had not been included in all of the plans to find the cure, she didn't know the whole story behind Silas.

"You talk as if he is just another supernatural, but as I tried to warn your wretched doppelganger friend, he is not. Silas makes Niklaus look like the Easter bunny." He paused, letting what he just said sink in. "I told everyone that he is not someone to be trifled with, even for the cure. He is better left alone, and because I cared enough about not only myself, but also my family, I am dead for expressing the well warranted fear I have for him."

Caroline became even angrier with her friends for killing Kol. She also felt that if her friends would have heeded his warning and dropped the search for Silas and the cure, she would still be alive right now. She didn't express any of this though, just sat quietly, hoping that Kol could continue.

"Let me explain. Silas was a witch, an immortal witch. He lived over two thousand years ago, and teamed up with another witch named Qetsiyah, who is of the Bennett line if I may add. You see, Qetsiyah had a thing for Silas, but he had his eyes on another woman. When Silas intended to perform the immortality spell on his lover and not Qetsiyah, the witch became enraged and jealous.

Qetsiyah killed the human woman and entombed Silas. This was a two fold betrayal for if Silas did ever die, he would go to the Other Side while his lover went to heaven, so even in death they could never be reunited. That is where the cure comes in." Kol took a deep breath and made sure that Caroline was keeping up with his story.

"If your idiotic friends and my psychotic brother keep down the path to find the cure they will for certain release Silas from his desecrated sleep. There will be hell on Earth if that happens, hence why I was so against it from the start. I for one wanted to keep living, but look how that turned out."

At that moment Caroline's thoughts slid back to Klaus. She was trying to hold herself together after hearing this information and all she could think about was being comforted by his warm embrace. She wouldn't admit this to anyone, but she liked it when he held her. The way he touched her, his hands holding her firmly, yet gentle at the same time, and the look of utter desperation in his eyes as she faded. It had made her to the point of almost wanting for more.

She shook her head trying in vain to elevate those thoughts. Her friends wouldn't understand her need for his gentle touch and would be disappointed that she had an almost caring feeling towards him; but then again, she was dead because of them and she vowed to not think of them anymore.

"I watched you," he said simply, out of the blue.

A look of confusion settled in her face. "Excuse me?" She asked in an accusing tone. She knew that Bonnie's Grams was also watching over her so it wasn't a shock that the dead were still presence in their lives, but Kol watching her just gave her the creeps.

"Not in that way! No Caroline, I may be a scoundrel at times, but I'm not that lowly or hard up," he finished by waging his eyebrows at her. "I meant that I saw what you did, how you died. You saved Niklaus."

Caroline glanced away from him, trying to hide her face with her hair. She uncomfortably tucked a piece of her golden locks behind her ear. Unwanted feelings and memories were starting to make their way back up, and she didn't want to go back to that. It would be too much for her.

"What you did for him was more telling of your true character than anything I have seen from those people you associate yourself with. As much as it makes me cringe that I'm agreeing with him, but my brother is right. You don't deserve them, darling," Kol stated having over heard the conversation between Caroline and Klaus shortly before her death.

She hated that both Kol and Klaus took it upon themselves to tell her that the people she has considered her closest friends since primary school, took her for granted. The fact that she still loved them and would do anything for them made her seem pathetic.

"I won't recall asking for your opinion on the matter, so how about you keep them to yourself and tell me more about why I am here."

Comfort, at least in a platonic fashion, was never Kol's forte, but sensing her distress, he gripped her hand in his, gently squeezing it for reassurance.

Caroline was so exhausted. Just when she thought her troubles was done and gone, they come back to haunt her. She would bet that her friends wouldn't even miss her. She turned her face, looking directly into Kol's dark orbs; he was silent, but she could tell that he was trying and that's all she ever wanted. For someone to be there and try, just for her.

Kol looked to the horizon seeing the sun start to set. His eyes widened knowing they were running short on time.

"Caroline, you need get up now." He released her from his compulsion. "We have to move fast if you are going to make it."

She relished in the feeling of once again having control over herself. It was refreshing, and she was thankful, but didn't know what the big hurry was.

"What's wrong?"

"There's no time to explain. It will all be revealed in due time. At lease I hope that it bloody will, those witches are secretive litter buggers." Kol complained. "I'm sorry to do this, and I hope you wouldn't be pissed at me…"

"What the…" Kol cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"You need to go, darling. This is your ride. Good luck, Caroline. I have a feeling you are going to need all the luck you can get." With a sudden push, Caroline was sent into the cool water of the lake.

She went numb again once her body was fully submerged in the water. She tried to maneuver her way back up the surface, but found that she couldn't move. Caroline felt the need to breath, but didn't want to such in lake water, but before long the familiar darkness came over her again. She felt like she was drifting away.

Eventually, she was able to open her eyes again as the darkness lifting and the fog lifted from her mind. The ground under her body felt cold and wet, not what she was expecting after being in the lake.

Trying to figure out where she was, she focused her hearing to pick up any sounds that would help pin point her location, but everything was foreign to her. Then, after quite a few minutes of just listening, a sound, or song rather, drifted over to where she lay.

The music sounded restless, like it refused to stay put and it never would. It was never ending, always one beat after the next, emphasizing the rich rhythm. Letting the music relax her, she looked up to the sky, gazing at the white glowing moon above her.

That's when someone grabbed her shoulders, pulling her up from the ground, turning her to face her attacker. Caroline withdrew from the man. She didn't have all of her strength back yet and didn't know if he was a friend or foe.

"It would do you good to leave me alone," she stated, standing tall as to not seem intimidated by meeting a strange man out in the woods at night.

"Well, aren't you just something else, darling? I do love little things with sharp tongues," a male voice purred to her. He stepped into the moonlight showing his features to Caroline.

Caroline's eyes enlarged in disbelief, taking a second peek at the young man in front of her. This was beginning to get annoying.

"Kol…you son of a bitch," she muttered more to herself as she backed up into a tree.

"So you've heard of me. It isn't fair though, that you know who I am but I don't have the slightest clue who you are." He stepped closer to her, placing one of her blonde ringlets over her shoulder, "I say we fix that and get better acquainted."

Caroline didn't care for his advances, so she shoved him away from her before turning to run. This wasn't the same Kol that had met her by the lake; this Kol seemed almost dangerous.

Kol laughed at her attempt to escape, "Running was not smart." He was on her within seconds, she was fast but it seemed like there was something holding her back.

Before Caroline could blink, she felt his strong hands grab her around the neck. She knew what was coming next and braced herself for darkness again. However, before he snapped her neck, she saw him smirk and heard his last works, "Welcome to New Orleans, darling."

_**You won't cry for my absence, I know  
**__**You forgot me long ago.  
**__**Am I that unimportant...?  
**__**Am I so insignificant...?  
**__**Isn't something missing?  
**__**Isn't someone missing me?**_

_**- **__**"Missing," by Evanescence**_


	4. Sun Goes Down

**A/n: Okay, guys. This is the edited version of chapter 4. We're kind of changing a few things up here and there to make the story flow better. Please note that this story is still under revision as we update. I will still update and stuff. Soon enough, we will be caught up with all of the chapters soon enough. **

**Please enjoy this better version of the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 4: Sun Goes Down

_Mystic Falls_

_Present - 2011_

Darkness had fallen over the small town. This darkness was not from nightfall, but from a coming storm, one that was fueled by the death of Caroline Forbes.

The town was unusually quiet, but that is exactly how Klaus wanted it to be. This was his chosen method of torture; his enemy's didn't know how or when he would come for them.

Once the Bennett witch lost her power, the containment spell was broken and Klaus was freed. His brother's body forgotten, he raced from the Gilbert house with Caroline still in his arms. He took her to his home where she would be safe, and he could grief until she was to be laid to rest.

He dared any of those miscreants, Caroline's so called friends, to come near him. He was just itching to wreak havoc, but then again, that would be way too easy. Klaus wasn't going to give them that kindness for he enjoyed the element of surprise.

So, he decided to wait it out. He wanted the paranoia to eat at them; cause them to lose focus and keep them guessing until they come to their breaking point. He wanted this for every single of them, not only for the death of his brother, but now also Caroline.

He has certainly changed since coming to the God forsaken town, none of what he had seen or experience in the past could have prepared him for this type of pain. If anything, he learned a very valuable lesson for his time here.

Loyalty isn't worth shit.

Over his thousand years of life, he couldn't count how many times he had been stabbed in the back. This wasn't just about his pack or his parents, but also his own siblings. The people that had pledged 'always and forever' had walked out on him.

Once home, he laid Caroline's lifeless body out on his neatly made bed. Hour or perhaps minutes could have passed before he decided to move from the spot at her side. He reached down to fix one of her curls that had fallen over her face; even in death she was beautiful.

He wouldn't leave her, not even for a much needed hunt. Time had no presence for him; he had no perception of it at all. He had already finished the supply of alcohol in his home. Going as far as to raid the secret stash of scotch he kept in his studio, but no matter how many times he drank himself into a stupor, nothing would numb the pain he was trying to push to the deepest and darkest part of his being.

Though the intruder made no move to make their presence known, Klaus felt it behind him. He had learned a think or two in his thousand years, and he wasn't about to be stabbed in the back again.

"Klaus?" A female voice spoke softly.

She was last person he expected. "It's rude to linger in doorways." Klaus said without turning.

With her arrival he had dared to hope that she could some how help…but that was not the case, the deed had already been done. Finally turning to look at the slight female leaning against the doorframe he continued, "You made a risky move coming here. Has it occurred to you that I am currently the last person that cares to be bothered?"

She warily made her way towards the hybrid, her eyes falling to the dead vampire on the bed. Being sympatric to all creatures, human or not, her heart clenched at the sight of the blonde beauty that was gray as ash. She could see the pain etched on Klaus' face, but she couldn't afford to empathize with him, she couldn't show any weakness.

"I can't stay long, but at least let me clean her up."

Klaus watched her every move with scrutinizing eyes as she went back and forth from the bathroom, bringing out clean towels and a basin of warm water. In a careful fashion, she started the process of removing the dried blood from Caroline's milky skin.

"I envy her," Klaus' deep voice broke though the silence. "Even in her death her light still shined through, but it doesn't matter now. She's gone."

She rung out the cloth one final time, the water in the basin was now a muddy brown "I need to change her clothes. These are ruined." She made sure to have Klaus' permission before she did anything. "I'll go find one of Rebekah's dresses."

Klaus barely nodded to her as she left the room in search for a dress. He still couldn't pull his eyes away from Caroline; he just couldn't accept that she was gone.

His visitor reentered the room and began to cut away Caroline's bloodied clothes, throwing them into a near by garbage can. She changed the dead vampire into a pretty blue, black and sliver dress that landed right at her knees. A black floral design was printed on the dress with more silver accents that made it sparkle like diamonds. It reminded Klaus of the dress he had bought for her the night of the ball. His mind floated back to that night as sliver heels were slipped on to Caroline's slender feet.

"There is no reason to stand there pretending to be afraid of me when we both know that you aren't," Klaus remarked.

Her eyes flared up, but she didn't make a move. She just continued fixing Caroline's hair. "Klaus, we need to bring her body back to her mother for the funeral. You can get back to your drunken grieving later." She threw something into his lap, "Here's a blood bag, I don't need you thirsty and in a rage out in public."

Klaus growled lowly at her as his hybrid face shifted, but being used to this side of him, she was not fazed by it. "I no longer have feeling, sweetheart. Not anymore." He tipped back his glass of scotch, finishing it off before going for the blood.

"Anyone with half a mind can see what you feel for her. It is natural to grief when you loose someone you care deeply for. You know you can't hide from me, I can feel your emotions, I know who your heart beats for."

"You know nothing!" He snapped.

She sighed to herself. This was typical Niklaus, so stubborn, like talking to a brick wall. He never did trust her intuition and was always trying to prove he had no weaknesses. He was fully and completely in denial. "You know better than that," she said knowingly, "Whenever you're ready I'll be down stairs." She knew it was only a matter of time before Mystic Falls was going to feel Klaus' revenge.

Klaus was once again alone in his room, with the body of the girl so full of light.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_New Orleans_

_Past - 1910_

Darkness, again with the darkness.

Caroline was tired of being left in the dark, with her friend, in death, now in the after life, with only Kol to annoy her. Waking up from a broken neck was never easy, but for some reason this time it was taken longer than usual.

Caroline's eyes start to open, taking in her surroundings. What used to be hard earth under her was now soft material, though it was still lumpy and smelled damp. As she rose up into a sitting position, a dull pain emitted from the back of her neck.

"Goodness," she groaned, rubbing her neck, "each time that happens it hurts more and more. I need a good nights sleep."

"It's morning." A voice quipped.

Caroline turned to the direction of the voice seeing a tall and slim, young woman, with skin the color of caramel. The woman walked across the room to the bed that Caroline now realized she was lying in. Caroline was now able to see the details of the woman's face as the dim morning light came in through the windows; her dark raven hair was a stark contrast to her gray eyes. What worried Caroline was the bitterness held in those eyes.

Pulling the quilt back off of her body, Caroline was baffled by the clothes she was wearing and wondered who had changed her. She was in a soft cotton nightgown that went all the way down to her ankles. She knew something was off, because she had either stumbled upon an Amish community or was no longer in the twenty-first century. Nothing felt right anymore.

"I know you have many questions, but it would benefit you to how your tongue. Especially considering the situation you got yourself in last night."

Caroline didn't like the condescending tone of the young woman, for she was still a vampire and could easily teach her a lesson in manners. Caroline didn't need to be talked to like a young child who didn't know a thing about the world, but she couldn't let her emotions get the best of her. She was a guest in this woman's house after all.

"No offense, but you don't know a thing about my situation, so if you don't mind I will ask whatever questions I please." Caroline had been dragged through hell and back and didn't need some girl giving her grief about it.

The women's face furrowed into a mix of disgust and resentment. A jolt of hot pain pulsed inside of Caroline's skull. She had felt this pain before, and very recently. The young woman was a witch, a short tempered on at that.

"How dare you, you ungrateful little abomination. You are lucky we even had the inkling to take a creature like you under our care."

Caroline cried out in pain, holding her head in a futile attempt to dull the stinging pain of the aneurism.

"Maggie, stop!" An accented voice rang out, dropping the concentration of the witch and ceasing the pain.

Another woman ran into the room, trying her best to calm down the young witch. "She didn't mean you no harm, child." The older woman directed towards Caroline before turning to the young woman, a harsh reminder in her voice, "He told us not to let any harm come to her, you'd be best to heed his warning."

Maggie glared at the older woman, but finally relaxed. Running around with a vampire, as her housemates did, was humiliating enough, but now they were taking in strays, and one far worse than the vampire boy. She found it all disgusting. "Adelaide, you do not get to tell me what to do and it is repulsive that you let the likes of him order you around like a commoner."

In that moment Caroline realized that the older woman was a witch too, as she trained her eyes on the witch named Maggie.

Adelaide stern stare was enough to let anybody know whose boss. "He is no master of mine, I assure you." She said before putting herself in between the Caroline and Maggie, "He serves a purpose, to warn us of the other vampires' doings. We need her healthy and you are not making things any better. Now go Magdalena, and help the others with breakfast. I will see that our _guest_ is tended to."

The young witch didn't spare a second glance as she slammed the door on her way out of the room, mostly just to annoy the elder witch. Adelaide changed her focus back to the young girl resting in the bed. She couldn't help the smile that came over her, reading all of the emotions in the vampire's blue eyes.

"What is your name?" Adelaide asked, hoping to start the conversation with an easy question.

Adelaide's brown eyes watched every move the blonde made, seeing her hesitation. Adelaide couldn't blame her for it though. Aside from the girl's youth, Adelaide saw intelligence in her fixed gaze. Moving slowly, she sat on the bed, making sure to leave some distance between them. "I'm not going to hurt you," she reassured, "You must be thirsty."

Caroline looked on with confusion as Adelaide rolled up the sleeve of her dress, exposing her dark skin. Caroline heard the alluring sound of the blood pumping through the witch's veins. It was so tempting and would only take a brief second for her to overpower the witch and feed; but she couldn't. The last time she had taken from the vein she had killed a man.

When Caroline sunk further back on the bed away from her, Adelaide asked, "Are you not hungry? You have been through quite an ordeal."

Most vampires drink from the vein, but Caroline didn't want to, she wouldn't let herself. The fear of killing someone and her currently heightened emotions would be too much; she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

"I…I can't…" she whispered softly.

Adelaide nodded in understanding, seeing how uncomfortable the idea was making her. She got up from the bed, and just went Caroline thought that Adelaide was leaving, she went over to a chest of drawers and picked up a knife and silver cup. With a quick, clean cut of her wrist a steady flow of red blood started to fill the metal cup.

All Caroline could focus on was the torturous sound of blood dripping, slowing as the wound started to heal.

Once the blood had filled the cup over half way, Adelaide held it in both hands, extending it towards Caroline as a peace offering.

When Caroline made no move to accept the cup Adelaide insisted. "I mean you no ill will child, please drink."

The blood was so tempting. Throwing moral logic out of the window, Caroline gave into her thirst and brought the cup to her lips. The sweet taste of the blood rushed over her senses. All she could think about was savoring the taste of the life giving substance that she had been deprived of for who knows how long. As the cup started empty, her thoughts cleared and she noticed something odd about the blood. It had a peculiar taste to it, unlike anything she had ever drank before. Caroline had never had blood from a witch before, but there was something more natural to it; natural and powerful. It seemed that each species had their own flavor, whether it is human, animal, wolf, vampire, or hybrid.

She guessed that almost five minutes had passes as she tried to get every last drop from the cup. As she finished the witch took the cup away and that was when Adelaide heard the girl finally speak of her own accord. "Thank you," Caroline said meekly.

"You are welcome." The witch crossed the room again to sit down next to her, "My name is Adelaide, but most people just call me Adele." Looking down to her wrist, she muttered a quick incantation for a healing spell, after which she held out her hand for the girl to shake.

Feeling safer now that she had been fed and thankful for being taken in and not having to be around Kol anymore, the blonde returned the handshake. "I'm Caroline."

Adele could tell that Caroline had questions that were running rampant inside of her mind. Beside what Kol had told her when he brother Caroline to them, she had little to go on, but she would help the poor girl out as much as she could as long as Caroline was willing to open up as well.

"Do you know where you are?" Adele asked, curious to see how much Caroline knew about the situation.

Being a witch as long as she had, her instinct on dealing with any supernatural being was sharpened. She had plenty of dealings with vampires, werewolves, and others rarer creatures. These types of creatures seemed to flock to the bayou, and Adele needed to keep Caroline safe; she didn't want to think about the consequences if she didn't.

Caroline didn't know how she had been transported here, or if here was still the other side, or if she was still dead. Not knowing how much she was allowed to divulge without toying with fate, she choose to stay quiet.

So they both sat still, observed each other and waiting for the other to speak first. Adele admired how brave the young girl was, resisting answering knowing full well that a witch as powerful as her could easily make a vampire talk. Caroline had a spunk that reminded Adele of someone she had known a long time ago. The witch's thoughts often wondered how she was doing and where she was, but for now she brought her focus back to Caroline.

This peculiar creature had a natural beauty to her, Adele mused. She had blonde waves that stopped at the top of her breastbone. Her blue eyes were always expressive with emotions and they shined bright in any darkness. Her skin was much lighter than Adele's own. New Orleans was a large mixing pot of cultures and though Adele had grown up in a Creole family, she was used to being around people with every shade of skin. In the city, one never knew who or what they would run into, though with the segregation and racial tension of the south, people usually tend to flock to those they are familiar with.

Caroline's cautious eyes read the witch's body language which indicated no ill will. She had a smile that could put anyone at ease, but Adele's dark brown eyes had a fearless, yet motherly nature to them. There was also an air of wisdom about the witch that Caroline noted to never underestimate. She wasn't sure if this came from years of study or growing up on the harsh streets of New Orleans; perhaps it was both. She was taller than Caroline by a few inches and her dark brown curly hair seemed to have a personality all its own due to the sheer volume of it.

"The only thing I remember before that jerk Kol so rudely snapped my neck was that I am in New Orleans." Caroline said annoyance.

Adelaide couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. Caroline's reaction was completely valid when it comes to the rash actions of the male vampire in question. Kol was known around these parts as a trickster and the only reason why he hadn't been caught and punished was because he was in good with the vampire that ran the Quarter. Both Kol and the self-proclaimed 'King' of New Orleans were diabolical, charming, and dangerous men. They loved to be kept entertained, mostly by females, and would party until the wee hours of the morning. Adele was at odds as to which of them was harder to deal with.

Kol had snatched her up with the intentions to feed on her and then leave her for dead, this being the little game he liked to play when he found himself in a large city and was bored. It was only later when they realized what she was that he sought out Adele in order to take full advantage of his unique find. Sometimes Adele wonder why she allowed him to run with them in the first place, but then again there was a certain advantage of having a vampire like him around.

"Yes, I know all too well. Kol tends to have that effect," Adele mused.

Caroline paused for a brief second confused. "You know him?"

"Child, if I told you everything that boy has put me through, we'd be here until we were rotting in our graves." Adele said truthfully. Out of all the original vampire siblings Kol was the most conniving and cunning, but his joking nature should not be conceived as kindness. She would take Kol over his brothers any day though; he had a soft spot for witches, perhaps because his mother was also a keeper of nature's balance.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Caroline laughed and slid her legs over the edge of the bed, trying to stand up slowly. Adele was at Caroline's side helping steady her. Caroline didn't necessarily need the help, but she was glad there was now a person willing to look out for her needs for once.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping me? Aren't witches and vampires supposed to be arch enemies?"

"You mustn't judge all of us by the behavior of Maggie," Adele started. "I have been a witch for a very long time and I've learn that life is too short to be negative all the time. We cannot undo what Esther Mikaelson did centuries ago, so why waste energy hating what we can't change. I learned to live with it and it has brought some amazing people into my life. If only Maggie could see this, but she is so set in her ways for such a young age."

They kept talking about Caroline's 'situation' but she felt they didn't know the half of it, so what was wrong with her?

"Rest assured, though I am thankful for your hospitality, I didn't ask to be here and I don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"I would not have taken you into my home if I thought you to be a burden." She smiled and walked over to the chest of drawers, "There are some clothes for you in here. Once you are dressed please join us for breakfast, if you are still hungry that is." Adele went to leave the room but was stopped by Caroline's pleading voice.

"Please…wait!" She still had no idea why she was here or why they were being so accommodating. "Can you explain why you all keep talking about my…situation?"

"You mean you don't know what you are?"

"Yes, I am a vampire," Caroline answered matter of factly.

"Not just…" Adele started, "Look into the mirror and concentrate on your true nature, it will show itself."

"Is the riddle necessary?" Caroline muttered under her breath, becoming tired of no one give her any straight answers.

Adelaide laughed and shook her head. "No, but you'll figure it out soon enough, you are a smart girl." She winked back at Caroline as she neared the door, "I'll see you down stairs when you are ready."

Caroline sighed, frustrated not only with herself but also her situation. There was that word again; she needed to figure out why everyone was walking on eggshells with her and better yet, why she was in New Orleans and not relaxing on the Other Side.

"Just get it over with, Caroline." She scolded herself. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the edge of the wooden dresser. She closed her eyes and focused, like when she wanted her fangs to drop. There was something drawing up deep within her, something unfamiliar, yet it felt just as much a part of her as her beating heart. Her eyes shot open as a rush of power shot through her and her physical features started to change.

Looking in the mirror she gasped from shock, she flew back from the mirror as fast as she could, ending up all the way across the room. Cautiously, she looked into the mirror again.

"No…this can't be right," she was almost in tears. She was devastated when she had found out that she has been changed into a vampire against her will, but now this and she still didn't have a say in it.

The whites of her eyes were now pitch black with gold and red irises in the center. Dark protruding veins emerged around her eyes and she now had two sets of fangs that ripped through her gums as they elongated. An instinctive hiss came from her lips as she gazed at herself. This was all wrong; this wasn't her.

Though she was neurotic as a human she at least knew where she belonged in this world, now taking in her surrounding for a final time she realized that there was perhaps only one other person who was like her.

Reaching up to touch her fang she groaned, if being a vampire was already considered an abomination and werewolves were unpredictable killers, where did she fall? Looking back at her in the mirror was a combination of the two evils.

A hybrid.

_**Open your eyes 'cause another day is dawning  
**__**Children of the night, can you hear them all calling?  
**__**Skies open up and the angel starts falling  
**__**Listen to the beasts, can you hear them hollering?**_

_**- "Sun Goes Down," by David Jordan**_


	5. My Immortal

**A/n: Here's the beta'd version of Chapter 5. Thank you so much, Erin! You're beyond amazing! Now, please bear this in mind. We're still do edits on the chapters to make everything flow more smoothly. Updates may be a little slower since I want everything to be in sync. School and life has been busy too. Please bear with me. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.**

Chapter 5: My Immortal

_Mystic Falls_

_Present - 2011_

The Gods must be playing a very cruel joke on him, Klaus surmised as he looked up at the clear blue sky. The sun shone down upon the funeral in a mocking gesture, reminding him of Caroline's light. He wanted everything around him to reflect the darkness that he felt within.

There was no eulogy. The arrangements for a funeral were prepared in the few days that Klaus had Caroline's body.

His mind drifted back just before he had left for the funeral.

_After she left the room, and told him that she would meet up with him after the funeral, he started to ready himself for the service. He looked at himself in the mirror as he straightened his solid black tie, and slid on the black suit jacket, courtesy of Elijah, over his crisp white dress shirt._

_Black was all that he felt inside right now, there was nothing left but darkness. Caroline was the last line, the last hope of retaining even a portion of his humanity died with her. The only thing that could bring him back was to bring her back, and that was impossible._

_He couldn't allow himself to hope._

_He looked down at his suit, it didn't feel right, and didn't feel like him, but his normal attire would not do for a funeral, especially her funeral._

_Glancing one last time in the mirror he sighed, about to do what he was dreaded the most. Klaus paused, looking down at Caroline. He had no words to describe what he was feeling. It was all too much._

_His humanity was officially gone._

_The hybrid gently cradled Caroline into his, flashing over to the porch of the Forbes' residence. Just standing on this porch brought back so many memories, memories that he wanted to push down and never think of again. He shut them out._

_He called out for Caroline's mother. "Sheriff Forbes?"_

_This was the first time he had seen Liz out of her uniform, instead she wore a simple black dress. Her weary and bloodshot eyes fell onto her daughter's lifeless body; her shoulders trembling after seeing Caroline in such a state. She couldn't speak to him, she just pointed to the interior of the house, giving Klaus permission to enter, her daughter still gripped tightly in his arms._

_When he reached Caroline's room, the sound of the older woman's frantic heartbeat and sobbing over the loss of her daughter was all he could hear. With the click of Liz's bedroom door, Klaus figured that she was coming to terms with the cruel reality that her precious baby girl was gone._

_He tenderly laid Caroline down on her bed, taking in her natural beauty one last time before he had to leave._

_Observing the pale yellow room, everything about it screamed Caroline. Everything had its place; a dress was laying over her desk chair as if she was still coming home to change into it. His eyes were drawn to the nightstand, and the small wooden box sitting atop it. He felt as if he was prying, but something was pulling him over to the box. He picked it up and felt the weight of it in his hands before lifting the lid. Inside were a few trinkets, but what caught his attention was the rolled up piece of parchment and a velvet covered jewelry box._

_He sat down on the bed at Caroline's feet and unrolled the paper, noticing that it was the same drawing he gave to her the night after the ball. He read over his own handwriting._

_**Thank you for your honesty, Klaus.**_

_Caroline had always been honest with him; it was like a breath of fresh air compared to how others acted around him, but in this moment though, he felt like he was suffocating. He could only show this now, alone in Caroline's room, as she lay next to him, cold and unmoving._

_Setting the drawing down, he reached next for the velvet covered box. He knew what was inside without even opening it, the white gold and diamond bracelet he had given her. Klaus stiffened as emotions t__ri__ed clawing their way back into him. Unable to look at the reminder of better times with her, he clasped the diamond bracelet around her wrist. In one last act he unfolded her hands, placing the rolled up drawing between them before setting her hand back on her chest. At least, at part of him could be buried with her._

_These items were like a symbol that represented the last remnants of anything that made him human. Soon they would be under the dark cold earth, never to see the light of day again._

_Just like Caroline would be._

Most of the town had showed up for Caroline's funeral, but humans and supernatural alike. The Salvatore brothers stood solemnly; Damon was trying to comfort Elena but just looked awkward while Stefan and Rebekah just stood holding hands. Bonnie was alone, aside from father, with grief and regret written on her face. Matt and Jeremy were in the back, looking on with sadness at the loss of Caroline. The only person missing was the most to blame, Tyler Lockwood.

Rudy Hopkins, Bonnie's father, stood up to begin the funeral when Liz was unable to compose herself. As mayor, he was glad to do a favor for the grief stricken sheriff. When he left Bonnie alone to made his way to the podium, Jeremy stepped up beside her. Rudy stood in front of the glossy cherry wood coffin as everyone proceeded to take a seat.

"On behalf of Liz Forbes, I would like to thank you all for coming. I wish this town was gathered together for a less tragic reason, but today we lay to rest a beautiful girl who was taken from us before her time. I wish that I had more time to get to know the lovely young woman that Caroline had become, but by the turn out today, I can tell that she was loved by so many."

He bowed his head, "Let us share this moment of silence for all of those that we have lost too soon." Everyone fell quite for a pause, before the mayor raised his head, "We will now start with the laying of the roses." The local choirs started to lowly sing a hymn.

Before all the supernatural drama happened and ripped everyone apart, there was a time when Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline were just young girls, best friends, and not worrying about anything else besides normal teenager things. Elena and Bonnie vaguely recalled a time in English class when they had to write a report explaining what flower they would be and why, a surprise assignment from the teacher as punishment for the class talking too much.

They only had one day to research and figure out which flower best represented them. The next day they all turned in their assignments.

Bonnie had chosen an orchid because it symbolized refinement, thoughtfulness, and mature charm. Elena chose a gardenia, for it symbolized purity and sweetness; they also conveyed joy.

Caroline though, had chosen a rose. She was human at that time and still had insecurities that she hid well behind a confident exterior. All she ever wanted is what every other typical girl wanted, to be wanted and loved; it really wasn't a selfish thing to wish for. The flower held more than just the sentimental meaning of love to Caroline; a rose was beautiful, but it is also has thorns to protect itself. If a person was worthy enough to get past these defenses, they could fully enjoy all the rose has to offer. This meaning only grew when she became a vampire.

An instrumental version of _Don't You Worry Child_ by Swedish House Mafia played from the speakers at the service. It was one of Caroline's favorite songs and the haunting notes flowed in the air as the melody of the piano touched every person standing in the small cemetery.

One by one, everybody in attendance came up to pay their respects and place a white rose on the wooden coffin. Elena and Bonnie came up together, holding on to the other for support. Matt, Stefan, and Jeremy were next, holding stoic expression; surprisingly Damon and Rebekah followed, having enough decorum to look upset.

The last person to approach the coffin with a rose was Klaus. His heavy step left marking in the grass frost covered grass. He was silent and emotionless as he laid a white rose on the coffin, pausing for just a moment, before walking off into the crowd of people.

No one but Klaus noticed the stranger walk up to the burial plot, placing a rose on the dark wood coffin. The woman light brown curls blew in the chilled breeze as she touched the glossy surface of the vessel about to be lowered into the ground. She made no indication that she planned to stay for the rest of the service. When she turned to walk away, Klaus only caught a glimpse of the side of her face, a tear streaming down her cheek. Her brown eyes locked with his for a fraction of a second before she moved faster away from the gravesite, disappearing into the crowd.

Time drifted by slowly as the service continued for another thirty minutes. Only when they prepared the coffin to be lowered into the ground did the crowd of town's people start to thin, leaving only her closest friends.

Matt left with April to go back to the Grill, which left only the supernatural persons gathered by the fresh pile of earth. The tension was so thick among them that it could be cut with a knife. Each sides of the cause were wondering who would make the first move.

Klaus' eyes shown dangerously as he scanned the cemetery for the cowardly hybrid Tyler, but with no success. He must have left out of town. The spineless mutt ran away with his tail between his legs.

Elena's heart was filled with compassion and sympathy for Tyler. She didn't blame him for running away; he had lost so much in such a short amount time. He had accidentally murdered his beloved girlfriend right after losing his mother. Elena could relate to his pain, this is why she understood his reasons for not showing up today.

Damon and Stefan's expressions hardened as Klaus approach the group. They both stood protectively in front of the doppelganger, having a pretty good idea whose blood Klaus was coming for. The thousand-year old hybrid wanted more than retribution or revenge; the only thing that would quench his anger was Elena Gilbert's head on a spit, but only after years of torture.

Rebekah watched her brother stalking across the frost covered ground; his movements were almost animal like. After a thousand years with him, Rebekah found her brother rather predicable, but with recent events she was also fearful of his upcoming actions. The hope for a salvaged relationship with her brother was shot to hell when that daft hybrid mutt shoved a stake through Caroline's chest.

There was nothing left of him and nothing left for her here.

"I'm only going to ask you miscreants once, so I suggest you don't waste my time with the lies you usually spew all over this town or else I will do something I definitely won't regret later," Klaus wanted to cut to the chase, his eyes glancing to Elena every few seconds just waiting for the right moment. "Where is he?"

"We don't know where he is. He fled town before we could stop him," Damon answered.

"Not the answer I was looking for. I'm not in a generous mood today, and seeing on how your scheming ways have left not only my brother dead, but also Caroline," his heart ached at the mere mention of her name, "I will ask one more time. Where is Tyler?" A dangerous tone laced his words as he scanned over the group, looking for the one who would crack first. "Come on guys, I thought you would want to avenge your dear friend Caroline, and aside from my sister, her death rests on all of your consciousness."

"Can we just do this another day Klaus? It's over and done. The earth has not yet been filled in the grave." Stefan urged trying to get Klaus' focus off of Elena.

"Ah, Stefan the peace keeper," Klaus smirked, "and tell me, if it was your brother in that hole, would you put your revenge off for another day?" Klaus broke off a slab of granite from one of the headstones and smiled wickedly, "Go fetch."

He threw the stone at lighting speed towards the opposing group, making them scatter from the falling debris. As they tried flashed towards the road that led out of the cemetery, Klaus blocked their path.

"Wrong move," he sneered, effortlessly grabbed the two Salvatore brothers by the back of the neck, bashed their heads together like cymbals. He threw them in opposite directions, one hitting a tree, the other another headstone.

"Jeremy, get the girls out of here!" Stefan yelled as he struggled to get up.

"Rebekah can take care of Elena and Bonnie, let me stay and help." The young hunter hated being left out of a fight. He had already killed an Original and felt his strength triple with the completion of his mark.

"Your ink is the only map to the cure, Van Helsing. Just take the girls and get the hell out of here!" Damon dislodged himself from the tree and joined back up with his brother, ready to make a joint assault on the enraged hybrid.

Jeremy reluctantly grabbed Bonnie and his sister, hoping that Rebekah would follow. Elena had other ideas though, pulling her arm free from Jeremy's grip, "I can't leave Damon, Klaus will kill him."

"Elena! Stop! You can't go back there!" Jeremy shouted.

"Listen to him, please!" Bonnie begged.

Elena wouldn't listen though; she was always too stubborn. She watched with wide eyes as Damon tried to assail Klaus with a branch that broke off the tree. Just as the thick piece of wood was about to connect with the hybrid's head, a brownish-gray blur came out of nowhere, grabbing the branch right out of Damon's hands.

"Damon!" Elena cried out before the world around her started to fade to black. Jeremy gave her a double dose of vervain through a syringe to her neck. Her body slumped to the ground as Bonnie and Rebekah came to carry her out of the cemetery.

"You take care of the witch," Rebekah yelled over to Jeremy, "I'll carry the pain in the ass." She threw Elena over her shoulder before speeding for the exit.

"But—" Jeremy tried to argue, but the blonde was already gone, Elena's long hair trailing in the wind behind them. With a sigh, he grabbed Bonnie's hand again and went after the female Original.

Back at the cemetery turned battleground, Damon tried to push the heavy weight of the creature off of his body, but its sharp claws pinned him down, digging deeper into his wrists causing a painful moan to fall from his lips.

He looked up see sharp canines snapping close to his face, drool dripped from its mouth along with a menacing snarl that shook him to the core. He had never come across a werewolf with this much strength. He should at least be an equal with the wolf, but there was something different in the fierce glowing eyes that narrowed directly at him. The wolf was ready to make the kill, trying repeatedly to sink its teeth into the vampire, all the while Damon was still having a hard time dodging the venomous teeth.

"Heel," Klaus only had to say one word and the wolf stopped attacking. The creature looked back at Klaus, lowly growling at him, not wanting to obey him. "Let him go. He's isn't worth our time."

The wolf growled down at Damon one more time before stalking off towards the hybrid. Getting up off the ground and quickly making his way to Stefan who had a wooden branch endowed into his abdomen, Damon struggled to pull out the branch making Stefan groan in pain from the stinging wound.

Both of the brothers stared at the wolf that stood protectively in front of Klaus. They were confused as to who would be actually willing to protect Klaus, other than his family that is and they had never seen this wolf around before, especially after the twelve hybrids were killed. The wolf was large and its brownish-gray fur bristled, standing up on end as its amber eyes watched their every move. This wolf was unlike any other they had ever encountered; it seemed to have intelligence and a hint of free will.

"So you had to call in your little bitch to come protect you?" Despite of the disadvantage he was in, Damon couldn't help the insult that fell from his lips.

It seemed that the wolf understood the insult, since its lips curled back and ears went flat back against its head. Klaus chuckled to himself, running his fingers through its think fur. The wolf's body language relaxed slightly, but still ready to attack if needed.

"No need for such language mate, she doesn't take too kindly to being called that. Then again, we aren't here to talk about my friend, you will find out where the coward is and you will bring him home," he said petting the she-wolf. "Make sure you also tell Elena and her brother that I am coming for them. It may not be tomorrow or the next day, but I will never forget what they took from me."

With the snap of his fingers, the she-wolf ran off after Klaus as he headed back to his estate.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_New Orleans_

_Past - 1910_

This couldn't be happening to her, what had she ever done to deserve this curse? Caroline felt the dread coursed through her body as the black and gold eyes in the mirror just stared back at her. The double set of fangs tore through her gums, tingeing them with blood.

"Calm down, Caroline. You can do this. Just breathe," she repeated to herself over and over in order to calm herself down. Slowly, she felt the panic and uncertainty subside, causing her eyes and teeth to return to their normal state.

She didn't know what it meant to be a hybrid, having only really known two of them. Tyler had never really opened up to her about it aside from the sire bond, and Klaus…he seemed to love everything about being a hybrid, plus she had resolved to not think of him.

Being a hybrid did help to answer the riddle of her being able to withstand sunlight. She also noticed that her hearing was more acute than when she was just a baby vampire, and thought her eyesight had been close to perfect before, now she felt that she could see further and in finer detail. Caroline placed a hand on her chest, jumping slightly at the feeling of her rapidly beating heart. As a vampire the heart pumped at a slower pace, not really need to sustain life, but enough to move blood, but now her heart ran as fast as a hummingbird's wings.

_Klaus likes hummingbirds, _Caroline's mind wandered, but she quickly shook the thought from her head getting back to the issue at hand. "Why this and why me?" She asked no one in particular. All she wanted to do was pass on to the other side, now she was here in New Orleans, whenever here was, as a hybrid and more confused than ever.

Sighing heavily, she took the worn dress out of the dresser drawer, inspecting its size and condition, "It's not Anthropologie, but it will do." At this point anything was better than the almost see-through night gown that she had on and with some luck, she got into the dress all on her own and managed to look fairly decent. Next, she finger-combed the knots and tangles out of her hair as best she could, taking one last look in the mirror. Finally content with her appearance, she walked out of the room into the hallway. Her enhanced hearing picked up some voices coming from downstairs and with a last deep breath, she went to go meet up with Adele.

"Adelaide, how could you let her cook again? It is a waste of food." Maggie whined.

"She needed the practice, and it is not that bad." Adelaide will agree with Magdalena to some degree, the youngest witch in their group was not known for her cooking skills, but she was excelling with her magic.

"I just do see why we all have to suffer to play in to her delusion of being perfect at everything," she grumbled under her breath.

Adelaide shook her head. "Don't patronize her, it's unflattering. She does not claim to be perfect, it's just your jealously shining through." She smiled to herself as she heard Maggie scoff, "Go sit down and try to keep your thoughts to yourself. I need to check on our guest."

"Wonderful, not only is that creature sleeping under our roof, but she will also being eating our food. This day just keeps getting better and better, and I for one will not be offering up my blood to that thing."

Before Adele could get on to Maggie again, footsteps were heard descending the staircase. The young witch saw Caroline walk into the room wearing one of Adele's old dresses. She hated to admit it, but the form fitted bodice did flatter Caroline's slight frame, though she curled her lip up at the sight of the blood sucker's dirty bare feet.

"Caroline, I'm glad you decided to join us. Please sit, Charlene is almost done preparing our meal." Adele mustered her most motherly smile, trying to reassure the new comer.

Caroline returned Adele's kind smile, but was still unsure about Maggie. The dark haired witch was still looking at her with so much distain that Caroline almost felt her skin burn with the amount of hate that rolled off of Maggie.

"Breakfast is served."

The girl that strolled in to the room holding a tray of food in her hands was beautiful, blonde, and looked even younger than Maggie. _This must be C__h__arlene,_ Caroline mused.

"Thank you Char, everyone take your seats and we will begin." The eldest witch said as she took the spot next to Caroline, hoping that her proximity would make things easier for her. With a sharp look across the table, Maggie took her seat, pressing her lips together in an effort to hold her tongue. Charlene finished plating up the food and passed them out around the table.

The young witch sat across from Caroline and this gave the new hybrid a chance to really take in blonde witch. There seemed to be a different air about her that Caroline had not noticed in any other witch, not that Caroline had a lot of experience with witches, but she had been around enough of them, especially recently. Adelaide held a persona of fearlessness and motherly protection, Magdalena's short temper and callous words were enough of a warning to stay away, but Charlene was different.

"Caroline, this is Charlene Davis. She's another one of my students," Adele introduced Caroline to her.

Charlene was more laidback than most witches, and since Caroline was never one to shy away from anything, she decided to be her normal cheerful self, "It's nice to meet you Charlene."

"Likewise Caroline," Charlene answered back with a genuine smile, "I hope you won't my mind my cooking. I tend to get a little creative with the spices."

"I'm sure it's fine," Caroline looked down at her plate, not really sure what to expect having never tasted Louisiana cooking before. "What is this exactly?"

"It's doubtful she even knows," Maggie stated sarcastically. "Knowing her, it's probably poisoned." Maggie knew that Charlene hated being accused of something she didn't do, so the dark haired witch took every opportunity to get jabs in.

Charlene's light blue eyes flared up as she glared at the other witch. "Perhaps I only poisoned yours, I do recall putting extra cayenne on your plate."

It was then Magdalena violently spit her food. "How could you— you know I'm allergic to that!" Maggie snapped.

"What can I say?" Char spoke coolly, "My hand must have slipped."

"I can't believe you!" The dark skinned witch jumped up from her chair and ran from the room desperate to get the taste of peppers out of her mouth. Charlene snickered to herself.

Once Maggie was out of the room, Adelaide looked down disgusted at the half chewed food that was spewed out over the table. "Did you really put that cayenne in her food or were you just jesting?"

Charlene gave Adele a half ashamed smile, "No, not really, but I wished I had."

Caroline tried to suppress the giggle that was bubbling up at their banter, but she failed. She at least slapped her have over mouth and had the decency to look embarrassed.

Adele shot the young witch a disapproving glance, to which Charlene answered, "What? She had it coming."

"Trust me Char, as much as I would like to put Maggie in her place from time to time, the squabbles between the two of you will put me into an early grave." It was times like this that Adele wondered why she even took the two girls in, but shuttered at what life would have been like for them if she hadn't. "Just because you know the right buttons to push to set her off, doesn't mean that you must use them every single day, child. You know how she is, her revenge will be ten fold."

"All dually noted," Charlene muttered in annoyance, more so with Maggie than Adele. Charlene was really very kind hearted once you got under the thick protective barrier that she had built around her self. On many occasions the young blonde witch had tried to extend an olive branch with Maggie, but the hot-tempered young woman was either too proud or stubborn to make any effort at friendship even though they had been stuck together for years.

Thinking that the worst was over, Caroline picked up her fork and started to eat again, "This is really very good, you never got the change to tell me what it is."

"I'm glad you like it. It's just your standard breakfast of eggs, grits, home fries, and sausage but with a Cajun flair. It's just something I threw together with what ever we had left over, it's about time to head to market again." Char took a breath after her long explanation and took a drink of what looked like milk, "Have you ever been to New Orleans before?"

"Nope. I never been more than a few hundred miles outside of my hometown really," Caroline wished that she had had more time to travel before her death, she was promised forever as a vampire and ended up dead, a hybrid, and in a strange city with stranger witches instead.

"Well I'm sure that Charlene would be happy to take you to market with her some time and also show you around New Orleans some. She knows the city like the back of her hand, and between her power and your new situation I have no worries about you two being safe." Adelaide trusted Charlene to not only protect herself but also control herself when it came to going out in town alone. It wasn't accustomed for ladies to be on the streets of New Orleans without an escort, but this town was unlike any other.

The elder witch remembered the day she had found the young blonde girl, alone and not understanding her powers at the tender age of seventeen. Charlene Davis came from an aristocratic background, daughter to an affluent family and wanting for nothing, but Charlene didn't want to be treated any differently just because of her social standing.

"What a splendid idea," Char clapped her hands, happy to finally be in the company of someone other than Maggie. "We will be the safest ladies in the city, and have the best of times."

Adele wasn't always a worrywart, but she wanted to make sure that the young witch understood the rules, "You remember not to use magic unless there is no other option and what ever you do, keep her away from _him_. He is not to know what she is," she finished her statement with a pointed stare.

Caroline was even more confused, when would anyone just give her a straight answer? She played with her food for a moment but couldn't help but ask, "Who is this man you have to keep me from, and do you all know what I am? Is it that obvious?"

The two witches shared a glance before Charlene spoke, "Adele is very experienced and can sense what you are. She made sure to tell us before you were brought into the house." Charlene took another bite of her food, ignoring the first part of Caroline's question.

"And the man..." Caroline pushed.

With a sigh, Adele finally cracked, "He calls himself the King of New Orleans, but it is self proclaimed. Vampires follow him and witches fear him. You would do best to keep your distance."

Only half satisfied with the answer, Caroline didn't push further since that is the clearest answer she had gotten from anyone since her death. "So you all know that I am a hybrid?"

Coming over from the other side as a vampire or even a human would not have been so bad, but having the werewolf gene added to her already undead body was the last thing she expected. She felt like she was lost in a sea of the unknown, and there is no one around to call out to for help. The ladies that sat around the table with her, kind as they might be, had no idea of what she had gone through to get here and she had never felt so alone in her problems than now.

"Yes we do, but don't let that worry you. Though there is very little know about your condition it is foretold that you won't have to shift on the full moon and we can provide you with blood," Adelaide took the plates from in front of everyone and made her way into the kitchen for a second.

"How long have I been here?" She asked Charlene, just above a whisper.

"Two days come sundown."

"Two days!" Caroline exclaimed. She had been out for that long?

"Let's keep the screeching to a minimum, darling. I have sensitive hearing." The same charming accented voice from the other night rang familiar in Caroline's head. It was the last person she expected; the images of his smug smirk, dark eyes, and boyish face were still fresh in her memory.

"You!" Caroline breathed, "Will I ever escape you?"

"There is no escaping Kol Mikaelson, sweetheart." He gave her one of his signature smiles and winked at her.

Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't try to pretend that I don't drive you wild." He purred effortlessly using his charm as he took strides to Caroline's direction. He had been hiding out in the kitchen while they ate breakfast, only slipping into the dining room when Adele passed him in the hallway that connected the two rooms.

Caroline rolled her eyes again, "Yes, you drive me wild with frustration!"

Kol ignored her comment, taking the seat next to her and propping his feet up on the table. Caroline shot up from her seat, "You broke my neck!"

"I'm very sorry about that, darling," he drawled reaching out for a piece of buttered toast, "and yet I'm not. It was the only way to get you to corporate. You had that look in your eye like you were about to run." Kol followed the blonde with his eyes as she started to pace the room, "I'm sure the lovely witches have explained that New Orleans is not safe for you."

Caroline wanted to wipe that smug look right off of his face, and if she were really honest with herself, she would love nothing more than to go all hybrid on his Original ass.

"Kol," Adelaide called his name with warning, not thrilled with his antics this early in the morning.

"Ah, Adele. You look ravishing as always," he sauntered over to her, being his normal flirtatious self. She never fell for his tricks, but that didn't keep him from trying.

Perhaps it was mommy issues or knowing that they had more fight in them, but Kol may of had a complex fetish with witches. He gingerly took Adele's hand in his and placed a playful kiss on the back of it, knowing where this was going, she snatched her hand away from him, "I don't think so, mister. That didn't work on me in the past and it sure as hell isn't going to work on me now."

Adele's rejections only fueled his fire, turning his smug smirk into an amused expression as his eyes glanced to Charlene. He licked his lips taking in the witch appearance today, and imagining how she would taste. He wondered what it was about these women that just drove him mad with desire. Sure any old human or vampire would do it for him in a pinch, but there was something about a witch that made him unable to think clearly.

"As I live and breath Miss Charlene, you have certainly blossomed well," he said beguiling her, but it only made her nervous. She knew there was more to him than this respectful, albeit charming gentlemanly behavior. Kol was menacing, unstable, and at times unreasonable, easily going from respectful gentleman to direct and aggressive.

Charlene was a decent witch, but was still learning to refine the raw power she held in herself. If Charlene were ever to go up against an Original vampire, it would be a bad result for her in the long run. She nervously bit her lip in order to not show any fear.

"Thank you Kol." Charlene didn't know how Adelaide did it, paying no mind to his advances. She was also shocked watching Caroline hold her ground with the dangerous vampire. Sure, regular vampires wouldn't be a problem for her, but an Original was a whole different matter entirely.

"Kol, I hope you didn't come just to flirt with my girls, so speak your purpose." Adele crossed her arms over chest, leaning against the doorframe between the kitchen and dining room. This is when she saw the flicker of seriousness cross his face. It was a foreign look coming from him, who was usually fun and games.

"Poor Adele, never letting us have any fun," he jested. "Very well. I might as well get on to business, since I didn't just come here to see your lovely faces."

"Your charms won't work here Kol, just get on with it," Magdalena's voice held such disdain as she spoke to the vampire.

She dislikes Kol slightly more that others thought, with his good looks, charm, and his inability to be killed, she held a special place in her heart for the hatred towards him. The feelings were mutual between them though. He enjoyed a challenge but going after Maggie would be more like a chore, but this did not stop him from annoying the witch.

"Well, will you look at what the cat drug in," He snorted at Maggie's displeased expression.

"Don't you have someone else that you could be bothering at this moment?" Maggie shot back.

Maggie took great pride in not being afraid of Kol. To her, all vampires were reckless, bloodthirsty monsters, and he was no better; if anything, he was worse. Adelaide worried that this grandiose way of thinking could one day get Maggie in a lot of trouble, may even be the death of the young witch.

"But you are my favorite witch to bother." Becoming bored with their banter, Kol decided to focus back on Adele and the strange young woman he had found in the woods two nights ago.

"If you two are done being childish, can I please get some answers?" She had heard about Kol's tricks back in Mystic Falls and after her run in with Maggie this morning, she knew that this back and forth could go on all day.

"I'm here as a bearer of bad news, unfortunately." Kol said, finally taking his seat at the table again.

Adele knew that Kol often blew things out of proportion, but something in his tone made her think that he was telling the truth, "This isn't another one of your boy-who-cried-wolf schemes again is it?"

"Interesting choice of words, considering the company you keep and what is coming, but no this is real." Kol started taking a sip of tea that was left on the table. "This is completely driven by self-preservation."

"Who is your source?"

"The King himself."

Alarm crossed Adele's face as a pregnant silence resided in the room. No one uttered a single word; though Caroline wished they would for she had no idea was could possible get them this upset.

"It's probably just chatter like last time, he hasn't been back her in decades." Charlene pointed out, trying to lighten the tension in the room.

Kol ignored the blonde witch and kept speaking to Adelaide in a serious tone, "Marcel told me personally. You know very well what a selfish bastard he is. There is no way he is going to give up his throne, he's preparing for a fight."

She did know, all too well, "Marcel is rarely afraid of anything, but this—if he is gathering troops, it must be true."

"All he told me was, the wolf is returning to try to take back what is his. This can't be mistaking for anything else, Marcel calls himself the King, but we all know who built New Orleans." Kol looked around the room, the witches knew the history of this town, but the new coming just sat looking partly confused and bored. "This is not just going to be a problem for Marcel and his guard, but for all of us. We may be blood, but he will not spare me any consideration after how we parted ways."

Kol's words finally started to come together for Caroline, the last statement making it clear who they were speaking of. Apprehension filled her gut, not only at seeing him again, but also who he was in this time seemed to be so far from the man she knew in Mystic Falls.

Klaus was returning to New Orleans.

_**You used to captivate me  
**__**By your resonating light  
**__**Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind  
**__**Your face**__** - **__**it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
**__**Your voice**__** - **__**it chased away all the sanity in me**_

_**- "My Immortal," by Evanescence**_


	6. Bones

**A/n: Hello lovelies! Here we are again with another chapter. Some of you had questions about to the last chapter. **

**It's okay to be confused. I can explain for you. No big deal. In a nutshell, Caroline died protecting Klaus and somehow has been transported through time to the early 20****th**** century in New Orleans. I hope that is what you were confused about. I don't want to spoil anyone with this. Lol. Also, the she-wolf comes into play later in the story. Can't give it away. **

**Oh, I love the support for the story.**

**I want to thank all of those who reviewed: OkBooey31, DGfleetfox, Guest, Guest, Lawsy89, klauslover, BiancaR, Duchess-of-light, Cridward2012, Clara, ignore common sense, justine, redbudrose, MTGZ, MarsterRoo, Grace5231973, Sci-fi Christian, Guest, Sancastle, melanorablood, and . .**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to repeat myself? XD**

Chapter 6: Bones

_Present - 2011_

It had only been a couple of hours since Elena, Bonnie, Rebekah, and Jeremy came back to the boarding house. But, the waiting was eating them up. Instead of hours, it felt like a century. Not many words were exchanged between them. No one more was appreciative of the silence than Rebekah.

The constant and incessant of Elena Gilbert tested her patience to the limits at times. Oh, how easier it would be to just take just any wooden stake she could get her hands on and stab her through the heart. A taste of her own medicine.

Of course, Rebekah thought Elena deserved it. She killed two of her brothers already with just Niklaus and Elijah left as her family. The grief of Kol's death was still fresh and she didn't need more of doppelganger wench's drama to add onto the weight she was already bearing. There were countless times of how she imagined it. But, there was one thing that stopped her every time. Or more or less, one person. Stefan.

She couldn't pinpoint the right word to describe what she has with the younger Salvatore currently. To be honest, Rebekah was too afraid to even take one peek. She didn't want to ruin this. Whatever "this" was.

She knew of the lines that were drawn in the sand. Rebekah cared too much to let some of her ill fantasies of Elena's death come to fruition. She was still much in control. Though, that's what she tried to believe.

Rebekah figured it that anyone can put on a mask and keep the act up to par. It just depends on who that person was and if they have the skill to pull off such an act. Rebekah had put on the charade for over a thousand years. It wasn't a choice for her dreams as a human to be stripped away from her, but the charade became so natural to her like a second skin. Vampirism was a part of her like D.N.A.

It wasn't long before that young girl underneath that all she wanted was to be loved started to gnaw at her bones just itching for her to succumb to that weakness. Once in a blue moon, that side of her would show. She was more determined than ever to keep that side to herself. After being ridiculed because of it, especially from her own brother, she kept it under lock and key at all times.

"They should've been done by now," Jeremy stated.

Rebekah sighed heavily from watching the silent show of wondering of when the Salvatore brothers will ever return. She pushed herself up from the couch browsing around to see if there was anymore drinks. "I wonder where Damon keeps his secret stash of bourbon. It has got to be around here somewhere. Can someone make themselves useful and help me find it?"

Bonnie hadn't said much at all. The combination of losing her magic and her best friend's death took its toll on her. The witch felt useless. Void of any purpose left. Without her magic, she couldn't do anything.

Rebekah was tired of all of the gloom and despair. "All of you stop worrying so much. Give yourself a break and take a drink." She opened a bottle of one of the best bottles of bourbon out of Damon's stash and poured the amber liquor into glasses. She took a swig of it downing it all in one try. "I have to hand it to, Damon. He knows his poison."

"How can you not be worried right now?" Bonnie asked brokenly getting herself a well needed glass of bourbon.

"Do you really think I'm that heartless? That I don't have feelings like the lot of you?" she asked with gritted teeth.

"Well after everything that has happened, yeah," Bonnie answered back. Jeremy watched as the magic less witch and blonde Original exchanged words.

"Let me give you a little reminder. As much as it may surprise you, but I have feelings too. I don't know whether my brother is going to kill me again yet I'm so worried about his safety. Just because I am not vocalizing whatever I feel doesn't mean I don't have a heart." Rebekah spoke out harshly. Questioning her about feelings was like assuming she didn't have a soul. Sometimes she even wondered herself at times if she even had one when she wasn't at her best, but she knew the right answer in the end despite how sometimes faint it could be.

"Still, it's a still out of character for you to be against your own brother. Aren't you two close?" Curiosity was picking at Jeremy's brain as he tried to wrap his brain around trying to understand Rebekah.

Rebekah had to give him credit. At least, he wasn't that annoying like his older sister. Ugh! She cringed at the very thought of imagining herself being related to her on such terms. That would be a living hell for sure. The doppelganger was already stretching her restraints to their limits. She was surprised she hadn't killed her already with her head on a spit. She did say once that she got her temper from her father.

"Due to some circumstances, we aren't speaking at the moment," she vaguely responded.

Trying to get along with her brother was like walking on a tightrope. No matter what step she took even if small and cautiously, she would always fumble and lose her balance and his lashing out would be monumental. She's close to the end of her rope, and she wouldn't dare to approach him now with the death of Caroline still fresh. At this point, the thought of being not able to talk to him ever again seemed not so bad if it meant for her self-preservation to be intact.

A sharp knocking interrupted their conversation. Rebekah and Bonnie sprinted to opposite ends of the living room ready for any action to be taken. Jeremy pressed a single finger to his lips signaling them to be quiet. The young hunter grabbed the gun filled with wooden bullets soaked with vervain, silently cocked it back, and raised his pistol in his hands aiming at the door directly ahead ready in case for shit hit the fan.

Another sharp knocked repeated again.

Jeremy with the gun in his hands hesitantly waited. Then it was the next voice that almost startled him.

"Hey, kid! Open up. It's us!" the elder Salvatore yelled annoyed.

Of course, it was Damon Salvatore. There was only one of him. One Damon was enough to deal with. Two of them would just be plain crazy. Well, in truth it would be way more than the previous.

Jeremy turned the knob of the front door to let the Salvatores in assuming that Stefan was with Damon too. But, that wasn't the case when not only were the brothers there, but also the new mayor and a couple of the police officers too. Both of the Salvatores were bound with ropes tied around there hands with evident burns on their hands indicating the ropes were soaked in vervain too.

"Put the gun down, or there's going to be trouble," one of the officers sternly ordered as the group had their guns raised in defense too.

Reluctantly, Jeremy set his down doing what he was told.

"Get them in." Mayor Hopkins started. Soon enough, the officers shoved the brothers into the living room. Wordlessly, Stefan and Damon stepped in towards the living room looking back to the humans in the law enforcement uniforms. The last person who came back in through the door was unexpectedly the older Sheriff Forbes.

"That's enough, guys. Back off slowly. They can't untie themselves. The ropes are tied too tight for themselves to slip through without help. They can untie the ropes later." Sheriff Forbes said in a emotionless tone.

Her face may have been unreadable, but her eyes said it all. Bonnie, Rebekah, and Jeremy had never seen it before, but Damon and Stefan have. It was the same cold eyes of contempt when she hunted the boys finding out what they were prior coming to know that her daughter had been turned into the very same thing.

"Dad?" Bonnie said his name astonished that he would even be here right now.

"I thought you would be here." The mayor commented as he gazed to the other supernatural beings in the room and to glancing to his daughter. "It turns out I'm right after all."

"What is this all about, Stefan? Where were you?" The blonde Original tried to attend to him coming towards the younger vampire, but the officer that stood next to him raised his gun up to aim warning her to back off. Agitatedly, she exasperated, "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I'll tell you what it means. From here on out, this town will be on lockdown. No one goes in. Nothing comes out. Whether it's human or supernatural."

After the mayor explained, confusion begin to set in every one of the gang's faces. Bonnie walked toward her father trying to see if she could change his mind. "There's no need to do this. We can take care of ourselves."

"It's already been done, Bonnie. There's been enough murder in this town. Too much has been running amuck. And, you're coming home with me now. Let's go," he told his daughter hoping that she would obey.

But, she was doing this the hard way. "How many times do I have to tell you? I can take care of myself." She was on the edge of lashing out tired of repeating herself. She had proven too many times that she can protect herself.

"Bonnie," he addressed harshly tired of her disobedience, "I know about you not having your magic. That makes you human as much as I am. You're still my daughter, and you will still do as I say because I am your father. I'm not losing you to this supernatural stuff again. Now, come with me."

Before she could yell at him at those words he spoke, Bonnie halted in her steps gazing at her father. Her olive green eyes were bewildered. "How did you know?"

No one could have told him. It was impossible. None of her friends had said a word. Questions of how he had gotten hold of such information raced through her mind.

Her father shook his head. "I can't tell you. Now, let's go. Sheriff, I think you can take care of the rest."

"Gladly."

The Sheriff stood there with the officers still around, but the mayor took his daughter by the arm guiding her to outside. Before they went through the door, Bonnie gave one last glance to the others prior to the door closing shut. The Sheriff kept a fixed stare at everyone else.

"Liz, there's no need for this." Damon carefully spoke trying not to rile her up.

"Damon, shut up. I didn't come here to chitchat," the sheriff said. "I'm giving you a heads up. Mystic Falls is under lockdown. No way in. No way out. I've seen enough reckless damage caused by your little quest for this cure. You're lucky I am not arresting you. Everything is going to be kept under wraps. We made sure of that too. "

"What did you do?" Stefan asked not sure if he really wanted to find out what she truly meant behind the words she said.

"You'll see. We have are sources. Come on, guys. We're heading out." Without a moment of hesitancy, the officers and the sheriff included gathered themselves to make their way through the front door leaving the sheriff last to go out. She gave one last look to them, her eyes glancing at the young hunter for a brief second before leaving them.

As soon as the door closed, the full blown realization had it them. They were stuck in Mystic Falls. For good.

"What happened?" Elena asked surprised to see Stefan and Damon in such a condition. After being shot with vervain, her head was still hazy somewhat.

"Oh, now the sleeping useless beauty awakens. What else is new?" Rebekah exasperated throwing her arms into the air.

Elena too tired to come up with a combative retort, she ignored Rebekah. She went to Damon to unbound the vervain ropes, but they burned the skin of her hands. "Ow. Vervain. Jeremy, can you unbind them, please? We can't touch them."

Jeremy walked over to the brothers and began unwrapping the vervain-soaked ropes with his strong hands. Rebekah made her way to the younger Salvatore making sure he was okay silently as he rubbed the tender wounds on his wrists, which were healing slower than usual due to the amount of vervain the law enforcement had dipped the ropes in. Damon made a beeline toward the glasses full of bourbon needing a drink after what had transpired.

"Oh, hell. Who broke into my secret stash?" Damon complained not liking intruders snooping into his special stockpile of the best bourbon he collected over the years. He especially didn't like Barbie Klaus getting into it.

"Guilty as charged." Rebekah's mouth turned up into a smug smirk. Oh, how funny it was to get under Damon's skin.

There wasn't much fun to do now except maybe Stefan. Of course, the sex was great. She definitely could keep up with those two lady-magnets. She acknowledged the fact that both of them were good in the sack, but her taste had to lie with Stefan this time. Damon was great, but her own opinion was quite different unlike hearing about the women he charmed into his bed. She thought he had rather grown too soft for her liking. Falling in love with Elena tends to do that.

Hey, at least that didn't dampen the wild one in Stefan she had known so personally in detail. Many times personally. She loved the advantages she had. There was no hesitancy. No caution. It was raw and untamed. Just the way she likes it.

"Brother, what do you see in this chick? Honestly. Tell me." Damon grabbed one of the second bottles of bourbon in his hands and took a swig tired from all of the crap. Fighting and a questioning just had him beat. If he was human again, he knew definitely he would have passed out by now.

"Damon, now isn't the time to play around. Not after the fact we just got our asses kicked, and now we're probably even more in deep than we thought." Stefan lectured him.

"Care to clarify?" Jeremy pressed on as he pondered what happened with the brothers all this time.

"Well, let's say how we failed to realize that Klaus let the dogs out." Let's just say Damon wasn't all too pleased having one of Klaus's pets kicking his ass to the ground.

"Werewolves? I thought there were no more of them in town." Elena pointed out confused .

"Obviously not then, Elena. It's not a surprise that you don't pay attention." The blonde Original plopped herself onto the couch opposite of where the youngest vampire had slept on before. No way was she sitting there, she thought stubbornly though it was a bit childish in a way.

Stefan gestured the living room with his arm. "We need to have a meeting. There's some stuff we need to talk about."

Damon nodded to him in agreement for a change, and sat on the couch with his girlfriend where she had previously rested on before. Stefan and Rebekah sat on the other couch across from them. Unfortunately, that resulted with Rebekah sitting across from Elena. Rebekah's target sitting crossways just within her sights. Oh, she loved being…well she loved being Rebekah. Elena didn't so much. The hunter planted himself in one of the wooden armchairs on Damon and Elena's side, waiting for the explanation.

"Start from the beginning. Hopefully, we can get this show on the road." Rebekah crossed one of her sinfully long legs over the other setting the bait. Damon's eyes flickered over to Rebekah's legs for a moment. He was a male. No harm in checking someone out. But, Elena's face flared up in agitation.

"Oh, Elena. Don't be mad. It's not Damon's fault. He's still a man." Rebekah delivered a false smile that just made Elena want to scratch the blonde's eyes out.

"Cool it, Bex." Stefan urged her before speaking. "So? Where do you want to start?"

"How about you start after we left?" Jeremy suggested hoping to get to the bottom of this. He listened in by trying to keep himself busy with his gun by taking out the clip, turning the safety on, and started to clean the inside of the barrel.

"Very well, then," Stefan took a short breath before speaking. "We were fighting Klaus. Both of us thought it was risky, but worth it to take Klaus on. It was only him against me and Damon. I tried to keep Klaus distracted while Damon would back me up. What we didn't count on was reinforcement that came to his aid."

It did threw them into a loop. An incredibly confusing one that made you doubt things.

"There's no hybrids anymore. Tyler flew the hell out of dodge. Who would in there right mind help him of all people?"

Any average person would have a difficult time wrapping their brain around trying to figure out that question. But, it still mattered. Other than family, who would come to his aid when half the world were his enemies? Any loyalty to Klaus was enforced. Evidence had proved itself repeatedly through Klaus's actions: the compulsion done to Stefan, the sire bond with the hybrids, and the whole craze with his overly dysfunctional family brings it to new heights. But, it was still questioned if this was out of forced obligation or out of free choice. No one had the answer to that question.

"I suppose this is the part where it gets interesting. Or am I wrong?" Rebekah yawned bored already with all of the talk. Geez, is there anything exciting in this town besides another episode of "The Bitchy and Miserable Woes of Elena Gilbert?" Someone please change the channel.

"I can't tell you really. Only Damon can."

All of their eyes turned to the bad boy Salvatore waiting for his reaction. Damon shook his head in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me. Do I really have to say it?"

"You experienced it. Only you can tell us what happened." Stefan explained to his older brother.

"God, sometimes I wonder why I am even related to you. A wolf kicked my ass, okay? It almost tore me to bits like I was some piece of meat." He's has had enough with werewolves to last a lifetime. Bitten by one was an experience enough for him not to be caught up with one in close combat. He planned to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

"Do we even know what it is? Is it a werewolf or something else?" Jeremy inquired to Damon not purposely trying to ruin his pride, but it had that effect.

"The bitch got to me! I wasn't ready for her. Quit rubbing it in." Damon said annoyed, his pride wounded.

"Oh, come on. Lighten up, Damon. You're taking your first step. Admitting that pride that cometh to your fall. I mean look at you. I don't need to say it out loud. It's written all over your face." Rebekah sneered at him enjoying the deploy of her taunt.

Elena had enough of it. Not wanting to feed her more satisfaction, she stood up and walked out of the living room. Damon followed closely behind Elena hoping to find out what was wrong.

"Was that necessary?" Stefan asked.

"You're lucky that's all I'm doing to her. I am capable of much worse. Don't push me to test that theory," she warned him leaning towards him seductively with a glint of forewarning in those icy blue eyes.

"You're not going to hurt her," Stefan called her bluff.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Rebekah leaned closer to almost to the point of the brim of their noses touching. Her long blonde hair tickled his skin with her face close to his.

"Because you care too much to jeopardize what could be yours."

Rebekah frowned at his answer. Before she fully answered, she grabbed the black tie he had on earlier with his suit today and pulled him to her lips. Their lips melded together with the Original in full control.

"Get a room. Damn. I'm out of here." Jeremy stood up disgusted with the lust and feelings spreading all over the room. Mainly on the couch, though.

Rebekah pushed herself off the younger Salvatore, and started to walk out in a brisk pace, her heels clicking behind her as she went. Stefan's face confounded itself by her actions. She remained back to the stubborn, apathetic she usually was. "I'm going to see what's going on outside. I'll be back."

"But, Rebekah! I'm not finished-" Stefan tried to say, but she had already left out of the door, "yet."

Back into the kitchen, Elena stood against the sink in the kitchen holding herself steady with her hands on the counter. Her chocolate eyes were hard with an emotion she would rather not contend with, but Rebekah just gets under her skin. She never had girl problems before, but she would definitely admit that she hated her. After all, Rebekah did try to kill her.

"Blow it off, Elena. Just because she showed off a little eye candy doesn't mean anything has changed," he joked.

She huffed angrily spinning around meeting his eyes. "Blow it off? Wow. That really helps out, Damon. Got anymore advice I need to know?"

He just stood still waiting for Elena to be done with her rant. He knew she could only keep so much inside of her before she would explode.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "so much had happened. She just doesn't help the situation. I want her gone."

"Everyone has their own way of coping. Let her roll off your back. That's how I do it," he gave away a half-smile to her.

There he goes with his "Damon Logic." She wrapped herself into his embrace taking in his scent. Somehow, he always managed to make her smile. Even if a little bit, she always felt there was a bit of hope. That's all she needed. Hope, perhaps.

"So what's about this wolf you were going on about earlier?" Elena questioned her boyfriend curious about the so-called wolf who had beaten Damon at his own game.

"It just came out of nowhere, and it kicked my ass. That's all I can tell you," he answered stubbornly holding onto the pride left inside of him.

Elena cupped his face into her hands with one of her thumbs brushing against his cheek. "Don't shut me out, Damon," she implored him, "I love you. You can tell me anything. Please…"

He leaned in kissing her urgently slowly relaxing into her touch. He blocked out everything around leaving just the two of them together. He didn't want to think about all of that has happened. He just wanted to be he and Elena. After what seemed to be a while, they took a breather. Now, he's maybe a little more inclined to speak.

"Damon, there's something else. Be honest with me."

She hoped that one more try would get to him. What's happened to make him to reluctant? Ever since she told him of her feelings, something changed between them. The sire bond strained the relationship enough, but Damon's insecurities and doubts kept nagging at him. As much as she tried to convince him that he deserved her, it's still like he didn't win the prize in the end after all. Only that he still lost altogether. She hated how he beat himself up. Why can't she ever get through to him?

"When I fought the wolf, it was different. Usually, I don't miss a beat when it comes to scents. As vampires, we usually can pinpoint them out. But, I couldn't. It was too unfamiliar. If it weren't for Klaus calling his bitch off, I would've been her vamp chew toy." Damon's body didn't deny the shudder that crept to his core just imagining the pain of a wolf's bite. The memory of the last time still came fresh to him.

"Since when does a werewolf obey Klaus?" Elena asked with bile rising up to her throat.

There was no explaining it. The factors of the situation were too confusing and complex. This situation in of itself, kept adding more to the heavy atmosphere that blanketed over the small town.

Suddenly, a loud bang boomed throughout the house. Rebekah stomped in not pleased at all with what just happened. She wanted answers. She Wanted Them Now.

"DAMON! STEFAN!" Her voice bellowed in fury.

She swiftly flashed into the kitchen with her icy eyes burning holes to the two annoying lovebirds finding them gazing at each other lovingly. She had no qualms for trivial feelings. Both Damon and Elena reeked of it, and it didn't help for Rebekah's benefit.

Her hands found themselves around Damon's neck in a steel grip. With one hand on his neck, her other hand went inside of his chest grasping his heart. Damon stilled himself making sure he wouldn't be dead by the sister of a murdering psychopath.

Elena stood up in rage wanting to protect Damon. How dare this blonde bitch? She had no right!

But, Rebekah had the upper hand.

"One try out of you, Elena, and I will kill your lovesick puppy of a boyfriend," she threatened.

Stefan rushed in, but seeing where Rebekah's hands were, he stayed in his spot. Very cautiously, he approached the furious female vampire knowing one wrong move could mean the end of his brother.

"Rebekah, calm down. What has you upset?" he slowly spoke in a calm tenor hoping her anger would have the same effect.

But, it was to no avail. "Upset? UPSET! That's how you think I feel? Bullcrap! Not only did you fail to tell me or either of us for that matter that I would be shot at, but that there was a damn barrier spell on the outer part of town!"

Now, there's a part they didn't expect. Damon wheezed sort of cursing under his breath as he struggled against Rebekah's hard grip. She turned back to Damon not knowing what she should feel more: anger or stupidity. Those emotions seemed to always run amuck in this blood place. "Something you want to share with the class?"

Damon wheezed a few more words before he passed out. "Just…wha…e…need…an…other…wi…tch…"

Rebekah choked all of the breath his body stored, rendering him dead at least for a little while. God. She made a mental note to herself to hold back a bit on her immortal strength. Hurting Stefan was the last thing she wanted accomplished on her list. Bored, she effortless dropped the elder Salvatore to the hard tile floor.

"I officially understand now why Caroline got so agitated with him. Oh, well. He's rather useless in my opinion," she wiped her hands of Damon's blood with a rag. "Here," Rebekah tossed another rag to Elena, "be a dear and clean up the mess. I'm sure he don't look so good with what my temper can do. I told your ex not to test me. It doesn't mean you're the only target."

Elena was speechless at this point. She kept quiet for Damon's sake not to rile Rebekah any longer. The female Original already had her on her list to kill.

"Let's just sit and figure out what we need to do." Stefan soothed Rebekah's temper by rubbing her shoulders a little bit, but Rebekah shook her shoulders off to pry his hands away from her. Despite how great it felt, she wasn't going to let Stefan have his way with her while Elena was watching with nosy eyes.

"Clean this up, Elena. Who knows how long that will take." She sauntered off flipping her hair back heading back to the enormous living room.

Stefan was glad he didn't chastise her about how she left before he could finish what they were talking about. He didn't want to be the bloody result like Damon had been just a few minutes ago. Then again, his older brother always had a certain way of aggravating certain blondes.

Frustrated to the point to where she was almost about to cry, Elena pushed all of her feelings into cleaning the bloody mess around Damon. Stefan wetted a few dishrags with water from the sink and started to help Elena trying to help her at least.

Elena sent an appreciative glance to Stefan.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Stefan finished cleaning the mess with Elena and replied to her. "You're welcome."

He didn't have to explain in words knowing how Rebekah was. It was his decision to partner up with her. Not that he would say aloud, it was easier. There was a weight lifted off his shoulders never entangling himself with the drama that seemed to transpire between he, Elena and Damon. Rebekah and him had a sort of mutual understanding to a certain level. He would just have to wait and see how this turns out in the end.

Rebekah drummed her manicured nails impatiently against the arm of the couch. It doesn't take long to clean up a mess. Funny, it was a mess she made. Oh, Nik would be proud of her. Maybe Kol too.

Before her thoughts dwelled to them, her eyes caught Stefan and Elena walking in. Elena's eyes avoided Rebekah's and focused on listening to Stefan as he started to talk.

"So, this barrier spell. What can you tell us about it?" Stefan posed the question.

"What else is there to say, Stefan? No supernatural can get it. No supernatural can get out. I thought that was quite clear. Now, we know what the mayor meant. And let's not forget those damn officers shot at me!" Bekah snapped greatly annoyed by repeating herself.

Honestly, it was like working with children.

"Let me rephrase that. Is there anything particular about the spell that you noticed that stood out?"

Rebekah thought for a moment trying to recollect from her memory. That's when it dawned in her head like a bucket of cold water dumped on her. "Oh, my God."

"What is it?" Elena didn't like the tone present in Rebekah's voice. It made her nervous.

"The barrier spell. It's just like the one my mother used." Rebekah's shock was present in her face.

Stefan ran a hand through his hair. He glanced back to Rebekah and Elena's nervous wracked faces. None of this made sense. First, there's a loose she-wolf running about. Now, the whole town is under lockdown with a barrier spell with their witch currently magic less. There were whole new possibilities to questions they needed answers to. Too many to list. And, without the spell lifted, they were sitting ducks.

And, the worst part?

They didn't know where to start.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

The King of New Orleans is returning?

Ha! More like self-proclaimed. Wasn't this "Marcel" person supposed to be New Orleans' ruthless leader?

Nevertheless, Kol's news still rung in everyone's ears; especially with Caroline's. As much as Caroline hated the silence, she didn't find any words to remedy the situation. It was so screwed up. She was at a loss of what to do. This wasn't her. She usually always thought on her feet. Where was the Caroline that she knew so well before?

That was impossible to answer. Every time she thought she had just found some stable ground, another botched up twisted piece of fate was throw at her causing to lose her footing and then she had to start the course all over again.

"Well, that was awkward." Kol muttered.

Adelaide processed Kol's news thinking silently of what precautions they would need to make. There were numerous. And this was just the beginning.

"Do you know when he is coming?" the eldest witch asked Kol.

"It's too soon to tell," he answered not knowing, "Who knows when really?"

"Regardless," Adelaide sighed and went to her secret cabinet of herbs and other items bringing them to the dining table, "we need to be prepared for anything. That's why I always keep these nice and handy for any situation."

Smells of all kinds wafted through Caroline's nostrils, puzzling her wondering on which scent was which. She watched in fascination as Adelaide expertly worked her magic. Literally speaking too. She set four pieces of cloth on the table. She put some herbs on the cloths first. Then Caroline saw black charred pieces of something she couldn't identify. With some of other things thrown in it, Adelaide looked to the girls and Kol with a knowing look. "Okay, I just need one thing from you four."

Kol's chuckle sounded as he saw Adelaide with that certain look. "What are you up to now?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Kol, I'm not the one who us always up to something. I am a very innovative witch, but you're the one who lives up to the title you presume me with."

"What is she doing, though?" Caroline asked Charlene.

"You'll see." Not much of answer the female hybrid was looking for.

"Do we really have to do this? We can take care of ourselves. Well, I can't say much for the…hybrid," Maggie grudgingly put it forcing herself to be less harsh. It's taking more effort than she anticipated.

"Oh, for God's sake." Adelaide moaned. With a snap, each of the four except for the elder witch felt a slight burning sensation from their hair.

"What the hell?"

"Seriously?"

"Come on!"

"That wasn't bloody necessary! Bugger!"

Adelaide laughed to herself as their reactions. It was always like that. Typical young kids. In a way, they are still young in that mentality. She concentrated and levitated each lock of different-colored hair onto each cloth. "Finally. It's done."

"I hate it when you do that," the blonde witch remarked mildly annoyed with Adele's spell. "You could have asked."

"As much as I hate to agree with Charlene about anything, you really didn't need to do that." Magdalena reluctantly agreed with the blonde.

"Well, what do you expect? All of you were wasting my time so I had to improvise. I have my ways. So, deal with it." She tied off each cloth as a small bag containing herbs, a lock of their hair, and some other stuff Caroline's eyes did not recognize. Adele finished up, and tossed one by one their own little bag.

"What's in this thing?" Caroline asked.

"You're little bag of goodies. No, I'm just kidding. It's a hex bag. It'll help you. It should help all of you for the time being." Adelaide at least hoped it would work out, but it was up to these kids how careful they are if they don't want to get caught by Nikaus.

"So it's like protection." Caroline surmised as she thought more about it.

"Sort of. It has number of uses. It's a little thing I came up with. I have yet to teach Maggie or Char this yet, but it won't be long. For your use, it's a means of hiding. This will throw off your trail, since I am thinking Niklaus is going by scent. That's why I did my little trick to get your hair. I didn't burn the hair too badly. I only need a small lock of it."

Charlene and Maggie listened to her words as for their knowledge to use this in the future. They knew their teacher was clever, but this brought their opinion of her to new heights. Who knew what else she could do?

"If you're so clever and powerful, why can't you defeat my brother alone?" the original asked.

Adele sighed and started to put her things back to where they belong before explaining to him. "That's a foolish question to ask, Kol. A powerful witch I may be, but I know my limits. And I am not going to recklessly assume I would beat him. That would definitely be a wrong move to make." She closed her eyes chanting one last spell to do the trick. "There, my work here is done."

"I guess we're just going to have to keep these." Charlene said as she put the small bag into one of the pockets of her dress.

"Yes, but you have to be careful. It's very easy to lose those. If you lose it, it'll be easier for him to tract any of you down,' Adelaide warned them carefully. Then she turned to Kol. "Especially for you, Kol. I don't want to clean any of your messes."

"Yes, ma'am," he saluted her in respect. The elder didn't know why she even let herself socialize with him. It still maker her wonder sometimes.

"Maybe later, I can give you a small tour of New Orleans. Well, at least this part of it." Charlene offered hoping to come off as friendly to Caroline.

"I'd like that. By the way, though. What's in these?" Caroline stared at Kol to see if he knew the answer.

"Don't look at me. Even I don't know the answer. And I've lived for how long? Anyway, I need to be on my way. Can't stay at one place for long and all of that. Maybe I should get you drink after that little incident." His voice trying to charm an apology hoping she would forgive him.

Caroline didn't want to give in, but one drink shouldn't hurt right? "Fine. It better be good. No, funny business."

"Of course, I promise. See you tomorrow, Caroline." He kissed her hand before swaggering out of the witches' home and into the bustling streets of New Orleans.

"Promise, my ass." Caroline muttered to herself wiping off Kol's remains off the back of her hand. No matter how charming, he still wasn't her type. Not that she had a particular taste. Oh, let's not go into that.

"I think we're going to get along just nicely."

Caroline smiled at Charlene happy to at least make one friend around here despite the seriously screwed up situation she got herself in. Magdalena came up behind them ready to finish cleaning up the dining room, when she spoke. "By the way, if you're wondering what's in there, I can tell you. It has herbs, your lock of hair, and…oh! The burned stuff is bones of a black cat."

"Eww! Too much information, Maggie!" Charlene said disgusted. Caroline wasn't grossed out by dead animals since she did do the animal diet as a vampire. But, the thought of dead cats really made her want to throw up.

"What? She asked a question. I gave an answer."

_**Dig up her bones, but leave the soul alone  
Let her find a way to a better place  
Broken dreams and silent screams  
Empty churches with soulless curses  
We found a way to escape the day**_

"_**Bones," by MS MR**_


	7. She-Wolf (Falling To Pieces)

**A/n: Hi! Sorry for the lack of Klaroline scenes in the last chapter. Shame on me for the lack of Klaus period! I'm still sorry for that. Anyway, I love the support for this story. Let's just up the ante a little bit. Oh, you're going to love this chapter. More Klaus in this one. Definitely more in the next chapter. More characters are making an appearance. I was going to make this a longer chapter, but I needed to make a stopping point. I'm so tired.**

**I want to thank all of those who reviewed: Stephycats7785, justine, MarsterRoo, OKBooey, Amy guest, Sci-fi Christian, BarbieRachel and Clara.**

**If any of you want to see what the dresses and hairstyles looked like, send me a message and I'll send the link. **

******SORRY FOR ANY ERRORS!**

**Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't need to repeat it.**

Chapter 7: She-Wolf (Falling To Pieces)

_Present - 2011_

The Hybrid downed his third bottle of champagne that night. The list of what he had drunk was endless. Everything else around him didn't matter. No one dared to come onto his domain. Not even his sister. The only one who stayed with him was still lying by the fireplace with her head on her paws. The she-wolf's amber eyes kept studying the lights of the fire keeping her distracted. The wolf knew if Klaus needed her, he would call her over.

Her sensitive hearing picked up the sudden shattering of glass, but it didn't faze her. She was used to it. She knew a lot about his ever changing mood swings. The she-wolf adapted to it. It was in her blood. She vaguely heard the front door opening indicating someone's presence. She leaped over to Klaus aware of whatever dangers she may have to take on. But, that changed when she saw a familiar face. She almost growled seeing him marveling at the small things that made the mansion unique, but majestic. There was something familiar about the dark hair and hazel eyes, but what really took the ticket was the immaculate suit.

"Niklaus," he addressed as he touched the molding of the wall, "I see you're still of residence here."

Klaus never counted on his elder brother coming so quickly. Both of them knew that their brotherly bond wasn't in the best state presently, but he was the only family he had left. Rebekah made her decision. Trying to change her mind was impossible. Stubborn as a bull, he once recalled her.

"Hello, Elijah," he greeted his brother back, "Do you want a drink?"

"Scotch will be good. Thank you."

As Klaus prepared the scotch, Elijah treaded closer to the almost caramel-furred wolf slowly showing her he meant no harm. But, the wolf recognized him so there was no trouble. She was smart. That wolf had the damnedest memory he had ever heard of. At least from what he recollected of Niklaus' words. She excitedly yipped at him with her tail wagging fiercely and jumped on him with her front paws almost making it to his shoulders. He already noted the she-wolf's big, yet manageable size.

Grinning down at her, he scratched behind one of her ears. "It's good to see you too."

Klaus sat himself down in his favorite chair with a glass of scotch in his hand. With a low whistle, he gestured to the spot next to the chair with his open hand.

"Here, sweetheart."

The wolf's chest rumbled with an annoyed small growl as she came back down on all fours. Not wanting to get on his bad side, she trotted to the spot of where he required her to be. He petted the she-wolf stroking her fur. Klaus allowed himself a small, but proud moment with his loyal wolf. The progress she made was astounding. She made him even more proud protecting him.

He was proud.

"Be careful, Nikaus. It won't be long before she may start to rebel," Elijah warned him knowing fully well of the wolf's independent streak.

"Don't worry about me. I am fully capable of handling her. And, you know this isn't some pleasant family reunion, Elijah," Klaus reminded him of the cold fact of why he really called him here.

The wolf surveyed Elijah didn't need another reminder of what more of this family had lost. It seemed as time moved on, death became a more common visitor to claim a price. A price he would gladly refuse. But, fate decided to throw something in the way. The nobility held within him conflicted with the enraged beast inside of him. Elijah never would allow himself to stoop Klaus's level, but even that promise was beginning to wane as he dwelled over his younger brother's death.

What also broke his heart more was the responsible parties involved. His heart splintered for the very first time in all of his centuries. He never dallied around with human emotions, but he still started as a human before he became the vampire. He still felt emotions and as a vampire, it was obvious that they were heightened. But, all of the previous thoughts he had of Elena Gilbert were done. He no longer saw the compassionate human girl she used to be. That Elena died that day while another took her place. Something darker and…he couldn't comprehend it. Neither did he put in the effort. No longer will he try.

This is a family matter.

Sensing his discomfort, the she-wolf softly whined yearning to placate the distraught part of him, but she stayed in her place. Elijah sadly smiled to her thankful for her hospitality. "You better be proud of her, and be appreciative of her. She has such a loyalty to this family. Especially to you, Niklaus."

"She proves it to me enough. At least, there's some idea of loyalty left in the world," Klaus said proudly of his wolf, rubbing the back of one of her ears right into her sweet spot making her reacting with her foot going.

Not long after Klaus stopped and unknown to him, the wolf's heart wrenched with guilt. In her power though, she made extra sure he wouldn't notice. Her heartbeat didn't quicken that much. Only by a bit. She always felt a certain sense of anxiousness when one of Klaus's moods arises. It was the unpredictable Klaus that made her weary and concerned. Sometimes, the wolf had to watch what she did. Knowing Klaus enough, she was glad she was a wolf. No need for words. What happens with the wolves stays with the wolves.

"May I ask what you have done in retaliation for Kol's death? I know you're not for one to sit back idly. You're too cunning for your own good."

Klaus's silence was enough to scream volumes. He just tilted his head at Elijah with an evil leer that would shame the devil himself.

"What have you done, brother?" Elijah frowned.

If Elijah knew anything about that face, it was that he knew Klaus had done something wicked. Elijah even saw the she-wolf next to Klaus trying her hardest not to show any worry, but her strength was weakening. It may not be now, but little by little she was crumbling.

"Would you like the short or the long version?"

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?" She asked after they had gotten out of the old red Ford Model T a few minutes earlier. Caroline swore she saw a car similar to that from watching the movie, _Titanic._ She can't figure how Adelaide as a witch and werewolves fit into the puzzle that seemed to be before her. Caroline wasn't sure how a witch would know so much about wolves in general in the first place.

How did this all come to be? To start, Caroline woke up at the crack of dawn by Adelaide's doing. It was hard not to gripe over how Adelaide was so chipper in the mornings. Caroline's instincts were right about that Adelaide was up to something. She even let Maggie and Charlene sleep in later today because of what she had planned the night before.

"Of course, I do. I just know things." Adelaide said as she gave Caroline a clever smile.

"I'm not going to believe that for one second. As far as I know, werewolves and witches have little interaction with each other. There's got to be more to it. The way you speak, it's like you've had more of a personal experience." Caroline said determined to get answers. She's had enough being kept in the dark.

Adeline frowned contemplating on how she should answer. She usually never talked about her personal life. It wasn't the best to remember. It wasn't bad that much. "I have to hand it you. You're smart. There's more to you than meets the eye, Caroline."

Caroline was speechless for a second, not used to the attention the witch gave her. That special one-on-one attention was a rare almost like a diamond in the rough. If that was even a good comparison.

"You're right, though. Witches and werewolves don't associate that much. It's surprising because witches and werewolves are the oldest supernatural beings on this earth. At least older than the vampires. But, yes. I've had personal experience with werewolves," she explained.

"Can I ask how?"

"Years ago, I worked for a werewolf family as a nanny. The head of the family had a daughter. I was assigned to her to watch over her. I will tell you bluntly. They weren't the picture-perfect family with the white picket fence." Adelaide's face glowered further as she told Caroline.

Adele's words reminded Caroline of Tyler's family. She never associated with the Lockwoods very specifically, but from what she could tell with her previous boyfriend, his home life wasn't all peachy either. She hadn't thought of Tyler in a while. She spent time in New Orleans for a little while now. Adelaide kept her occupied with Caroline earning her keep. The blonde witch, Charlene, was friendly and helped to try to make it as easy as possible. Maggie was still like usual, but she seemed to back off for now. It didn't stop her from sending disgusted glares to the hybrid. And Kol still annoyed her to no end.

She felt guilty for not thinking about Tyler. After all he had done for her, shouldn't she give him some courtesy? Was thinking of them really that bad? It shouldn't be, but the harsh memories of when she last seen him were too unsettling. He came at her with a white-oak stake! He tried to kill her.

Oh, if only she could change things then it would make things so much better. If only she hadn't give into Klaus. But, he got under her skin. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of him. As time flowed by, she would open up more by little pieces. Oh, great. Now she was still thinking about-

"Caroline!" Adelaide yelled breaking Caroline out of her reverie.

"What? Oh! I'm so sorry! I don't space out so much like that." Caroline apologized.

"You don't need to say you're sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just about to ask that you're familiar with werewolves, yes?" The witch inquired.

Very personal more or less.

"You could say that," Caroline answered as a blush slightly reddened her face.

"By what I figure out from your blush, it was way more than what you're saying. I'll even bet that you were in love with him too." Adelaide mused judging at the girl's reaction. Oh, she was deeply in love with this werewolf.

"You got me."

Talking about Tyler was the last thing she wanted to do.

"It's okay to be in love, Caroline. There's no shame in it. It's just that it can be very trying at times. Their tempers run high a lot." Love wasn't something only a supernatural individual would know. Anyone can love, but love wasn't easy. It was anything, but easy. It was the exact opposite. The only easy part of the whole grand scheme, depending on the person, is to fall for someone. The difficult part was a whole list of its own hardships and cons.

"Was he the tall, dark, and handsome type? Blue eyes?" Adelaide asked out of curiosity.

"No. He actually had brown eyes. He was handsome too. Why do you ask?" Caroline didn't even know why the question was relevant.

"Because believe it or not, Charlene has a sort of type of man she likes. She may not admit it, but she is attracted to those. Bah! Men are the last thing any girl needs. But, that's what I get for letting her have too much moonshine. Lord, that was something else. She talks way too much with that stuff in her system." And that's one mistake she is never going to let happen again. Charlene ended up having a hangover for three days straight drinking that crap.

Now, back to the real topic here.

"So, you worked for a family of werewolves. Was it that hard?"

"Yes. Everyone had their weight to bear. There were things are already set in motion I couldn't change. The only thing I could do was to try to make it through the best I can…" Adelaide's voice trailed off looking into the cloudy sky. _I still should have done something. It's still my fault. _

Caroline stayed silent until the older witch was ready to talk again. She felt guilty for making Adelaide remembering any regrets she may have had.

"Anyway, let's begin," Adelaide said as they came closer to an open field with rich grass. Caroline's sense of smell kicked in as the scent of fresh water from a ways of where they were.

"Is there a river nearby?" The smell of water was more potent with each step she took.

"Not a river. We're near Lake Pontchartrain. I'd like to think you could use something new other than the city. Sometimes, I would come here with the family I worked with." Adelaide smiled almost savoring the precious moments made in time right by this lake. There were simpler and brighter moments in that dark life. She recalled a certain child's laughter that was contagious with her witty smile.

"Do you only know about it?" Caroline was amazed at the rich rural beauty of the countryside. Then a sharp cold wind blew right through her. "Oh, my God!" she gasped shivering. "What's with the weather around here?"

Honestly, it drove her crazy.

"That's one of the downfalls living in this state. Where are you from? I take it you're from up north." Adelaide personally did not take to the weather here either, but she dealt with it. That's what you have to do.

"Virginia," the female hybrid responded as she rubbed her arms frequently trying to warm herself.

"That's where you're dilemma is. Up there, the weather is more of a dry cold. The dry air is less dense, so the chill doesn't make you cold as much. But, Louisiana is known for the humidity. I'm not a fan of it either of the hot and sticky." She laughed as Caroline tried to vainly get past the cold chill. "You'll get used to it in time. Besides, only a few people know this place, so I don't care if you curse. Just try to keep in to a minimum."

"You try to not to keep it to a minimum with this stupid weather," Caroline grumbled to herself hoping Adele didn't hear.

Adelaide heard her, but she ignored it. She quickly dabbed into her knowledge of werewolves and vampires prepping Caroline to where she needed to be.

"Let's get this started then, shall we?" Adelaide's face changed to a firm and stern expression not letting Caroline going to go that easy.

Somehow, Caroline knew she was in for one hell of a day.

**Hours later…**

"So, how did it go?" Charlene asked as she was cleaning a little bit in Caroline's current room.

"Don't even ask," Caroline said tired from the workout Adelaide pushed her on through. Gosh, she never expected to be that tired. Adelaide doesn't play around. "Does she always push you this hard when you learn spells and stuff?"

Charlene nodded. "Oh, yeah. She does expect a lot out of us. Her motto is if you work hard, you get to play hard too. She doesn't treat anyone special. She treats us all equally. But, she's a good teacher. You can't deny that."

Caroline had to agree with her on that point. It's been a while since Caroline had pushed herself so hard. Even as a vampire, she never came on to a task so taxing. Her skin was slightly damp with sweat. She shed off the dress she had on, and wrapped a thin robe around her body. "Still, I've never been this tired."

"You're a hybrid. You'll get over it." Charlene said plunking into the bed making the bed dip with her weight. As she collected her thoughts, her mind hatched an idea. "I know just what you need."

"I know what I need: a long, soaking bath." Caroline said as she combed her hair with her fingers cringing a little from feeling the oily hair. She missed all of the little advantages technology had given to her before she died. She took advantage of them, and now she was really regretting it.

Charlene turned her head mock glaring at Caroline. "No, silly! I meant you need to go out. In fact, I've been rather cooped up myself."

"You're actually serious." The way her words came out, it seemed Caroline asked instead of a statement.

Charlene rolled her eyes. "Would I lie?"

"Not really. I don't see you doing that. Witches are too honest." The girls spun around seeing Kol perched by the open window of the fire escape looking great typically.

But, that didn't change the fact he snuck into the bedroom.

"GAHHH!" Both of them screamed. Caroline quickly unfolded the blanket on top of the bed, and wrapped it around her robed clad body trying to shield herself from his prying eyes. Charlene tried to help Caroline covering her up with her body blocking Kol's vision.

All three of them heard quick footfalls coming up the stairs in a fast manner. The door was slammed opened revealing a very worried Adelaide. "What the in the world is going on here?"

"Him! That's what's going on!" Caroline yelled highly embarrassed worrying what his meddling eyes might have seen.

Adelaide's face changed from being worried to pissed off quick as a heartbeat. Her eyes were wide and manic as she dangerously stepped toward the Original vampire unafraid. He may well be over a millennia in age, but he was still remained a young man in her eyes. And, young men tend to be so infuriating to the point where you want to strangle them. With a flick of her finger, the open window closed by itself. Then not even a second later, she sent a shot of pain to Kol adding a little more concentration than what she did the last couple of times. It was more forceful due to her irritation higher than ever making Kol groan in pain.

"I am so done with this." Adelaide said as she broke the connection. Her dark eyes still glared at him in a fixed stare. She was in no mood for such nonsense. "Now, will someone please tell me what happened before I lose my temper?"

"He scared the living daylights out of us. That's what happened," Charlene said a little petrified from his sudden appearance.

"I didn't want to take the conventional route so I took the long way. I'm way more original. Goes with my title, don't you think?" Kol joked.

"Do I really look like I'm in a joking mood? No. I'm not." Adelaide answered her own question closing in dangerously in front of Kol. "Any more mishaps, and I won't just send you another shot of pain. I'll do it where you won't be able to function for weeks. And you know where I'm talking about. So stop being a pain in my ass."

"You may be a powerful witch, Adelaide. But, do not test me," Kol said, his face set in a pinch of warning.

Adelaide's hands were planted on her hips as she stood there holding her ground, her glare still currently there. "Trust me, Kol. I'm taking your word of caution to _heart._"

"Okay. Okay. Let's calm down. No need for all of the tension." She came in between the glaring match between Kol and Adelaide taking up the role as the peacemaker or referee as Charlene preferred to call herself.

"Can we get back to addressing what's going on? Like why Kol is here in my room." Caroline flippantly spat annoyed with Kol's games.

"Ah, you're right, darling. You always come to the point," he teased playing with her emotions.

Her tolerance for his antics was diving lower and lower. It wouldn't be long before she lost her grip over her temper. She glanced to Adelaide pleading, "Please go through with your threat. Please!"

"Caroline, that wasn't a threat. It was a promise. Technically, he hasn't done anything wrong. And, I simply do not have the energy to do so." Adele chuckled as her face began to be more jovial again. "But, nice try."

"Speaking of trying, we were kind of hoping to try to ask you if we could go out tonight." Charlene asked hoping that Adelaide won't be overprotective like a mother hen over her chicks, but she had an inkling that wouldn't be the case.

Adelaide arched a slender eyebrow. "Who's we, Char?"

Might as well get this over with. Charlene sighed ready for the inevitable. "Me and Caroline."

Adele paused for a split second. Just when Charlene and Caroline thought they got it, Adelaide exploded. "NO! No way in hell!"

Not a very good sign.

"Adelaide, just listen to us." Charlene pleaded.

"Oh, I've been listening. I've been listening to insanity!" The witch snapped.

Charlene should've acknowledged that this would be the exact case and point. Even though Charlene and Magdalena trained under Adelaide's wing for some time, which had been for a while, there was always that one overprotective quality about Adelaide that reared up in anything they wanted to do outside of the house. Over time, it continued to grow more as time passed. And, Charlene knew Adelaide always had a reason for everything she did, but not once did the witch spill the beans of what that reason was.

That was when Kol stepped in. "On the contrary, maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

Adelaide doubted that. "Oh, do tell. I have to see what cockamamie idea you brought up from that brain of yours."

"This would be a perfect opportunity for your girls to properly test their magic, and Caroline can get out seeing what this city has to offer. No one wants to be kept in a cage like a dog." Kol clarified.

Caroline didn't like the comparison of her to a dog in a cage. Adele was only trying to protect her. Caroline realized that. Adele protected and treated Maggie and Char like they were her own daughters. Even Caroline can come clean to the fact that Adele had treated her as her own too.

Caroline saw Adele as she pondered brushing her hand over her chin thinking. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm going to agree. It would be good for the girls. But, with the danger of your brother lurking about, they're gonna need some help. That's where you come in." Adelaide pointed to Kol.

The Original was outright shocked. "Me? You're joking, right?" he sputtered.

That's when Caroline outright laughed at his response. Charlene joined in the laughter too although she did it more quietly not wanting to upset the undeniably handsome vampire. Caroline was braver and she didn't care. Kol can just kiss her ass.

"No. Consider this is as a way to make up to me for what happened this morning. And if you want to be extra good, you can help me around," she said before inclining her head to Charlene, "Char, you get yourselves ready and you help Caroline out too. Kol has a previous engagement with the mop."

Kol glared daggers in his eyes to the girls silently hoping to bring the saying, "Looks can kill," to reality. But, Adelaide whisked him out of the bedroom about to close the door, but leaving her head out before she left. "Make sure that if Maggie comes in here, you offer for her to come with you two."

"Sure, Adele. We will." Charlene answered to her teacher even inviting Maggie wasn't what she had planned to do. The door finally closed after all of the commotion, and Caroline could hear Kol's grumbling words as he went down the stairs.

"That went well." Charlene stated.

Caroline held a strange expression on her face.

Well…_duh!_

Charlene proceeded to refold the blanket that had been wrapped around Caroline's body previously. "Don't worry. Adele will keep him plenty occupied."

"Hopefully, she'll do just that." Caroline started to search head to the bathroom ready to give her a bath.

"Heads up!" Charlene tossed a bottle to Caroline. The hybrid was curious about it. She opened the top inhaling the sweet vanilla scent followed by something else she didn't recognize. Lavender maybe?

"What is this?" Caroline asked inhaling the wonderful scent one more time. "It smells nice," she said vocalizing her thoughts.

"Remember what I said about how Adele is a very innovative witch. She's very creative too. To the point where she likes to make things from scratch. What you have there is homemade. She doesn't make it often." Charlene enlightened about Adelaide, "It's one of the last bottles I have so don't waste it. Go and take your bath. I'll get everything ready."

She didn't need to tell her twice. Caroline sprinted to the bathroom closing the door behind her. She dropped the thin bath robe onto the floor leaving her nude body exposed. Surprisingly, the bathtub had already been filled with warm water. Right by the bathtub, there was a folded over note at the edge of the tub. Caroline picked it up recognizing Char's handwriting. Her handwriting wasn't the best.

_Hi Care, _

_I thought I knew how you would be when you got back with Adelaide. I filled it with warm water just a few minutes before you came. Anyway, take your time, but not too much. Maggie tends to rear an ugly head if there isn't enough hot water. _

_- Charlene_

_Care. _Her special nickname. Charlene's small note brought old feelings of nostalgia for her friends back in Mystic Falls. Only a number of people called her by that name. Elena, Matt, Bonnie, Stefan…Tyler. She had been there for all them. Was it so bad or so trying for any one of them to be there for her? She wasn't asking anything difficult. Yet with the witches that had taken her in, she felt guilty for feeling a certain sense of belonging. Like she actually mattered.

Dismissing any negative thoughts, she dipped one foot in the tub testing the temperature of the water. "Seems warm enough."

She stepped into the tub letting her body finally relax after a well-deserved morning workout. The warm water worked its magic loosening the tense muscles starting with her back. It felt so good.

Using some of the shampoos and the bottle Charlene gave her, she massaged her head with her fingers working the shampoo in making her hair foamy with bubbles. She rinsed her hair using a large cup dumping the water over head trying to get rid of leftover shampoo. Then she worked the conditioner into hair too and repeated the rinsing process. She continued her bath shaving her legs and anywhere else she needed to be rid of the unwanted hair.

Relieved of being clean and fresh, she got out of the tub wrapping a huge fluffy white towel around her. She pulled the drain up letting the water recede. Now, onto her current dilemma. How was she going to dry her hair without the convenience of a hairdryer? No one invented that until fifteen years from now. Maybe even twenty.

She unlocked the door, and saw Charlene bringing a pile of clothes in her arms. Then her eyes went big as dinner plates when she saw a deadly contraption on the bed: a corset. Oh, no.

"Do I really have to wear that?" Caroline was a girly-girl at heart, but corsets were so not what she planned to wear.

"Unfortunately, you do. I'm giving you the easier one to wear so it shouldn't be that bad. Come on, and I'll help you get into it."

Charlene noticed Caroline's reluctance in her face. "Get over here. Don't be so hesitant. Trust me."

Warily, the blonde hybrid walked over stepping in front of the full length mirror that stood in the corner. Charlene handed her from what she could tell were khaki colored undergarments. Hopefully, they were undergarments.

"Put these on, and I'll help you with the corset. You're not experienced enough to tie it by yourself from what I can tell." The blonde witch said as she loosened the strings of the matching colored corset.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't trust that death trap."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good name for it. But, you'll work your way around it. The trick to it is to be actually able to breathe in it. I've seen way too many girls my age getting into the trend of trying to have the smallest waist, but they can barely breathe. Sheesh!"

"Let's just get this over with." Caroline muttered.

Charlene chuckled at her, and helped her get into the corset while Caroline watched in the mirror. Finally after a few tries and maneuvers, Charlene successfully put on the corset on Caroline, and she began tightening up the strings in the back. After a few minutes, Charlene pulled one last time on the strings of the corset in one last good tug.

"Ow!" Caroline yelped.

"Sorry," Charlene said apologetically.

"I have to admit you handled yourself well." There in the open doorway stood Magdalena smirking scrutinizing the two of them.

"Hi, Maggie. Is there anything we can do for you?" Charlene asked in a neutral tone not wanting to stir up any trouble for either of them. Adelaide had enough on her hands as it is. She finished tying off the corset for Caroline hoping she will get used to it eventually.

"I come in peace. If anything, I'm bored out of my mind right now. So, let's not waste time," Maggie answered nonchalantly. "Charlene, you get ready to put on the new corset and junk. I'll handle our little hybrid's hair problem."

Caroline looked up to Maggie in confusion. How did she know? Does she read minds? "What are you going to do?"

"First off, if you're even thinking of ruining my teacher's reputation, which would be so wrong. I will do anything to prevent that from being tarnished. Even if that means I have to play makeover with you like young girls." Maggie said flipping her flawless dark hair.

The witch's hair was like a dark onyx waterfall flowing down her back. No matter how many times you would run your hands through it, it would still be smooth and unknotted. Caroline picked at a lock of her own hair comparing it Maggie's. But, Charlene saw it and she came to Caroline's rescue.

"Tone down on the insults, Mag. We don't need to do this."

"I'm not insulting anyone," Maggie said as she ushered Caroline over to the dresser making her sit down, "I'm just stating facts. I'm rather blunt and you should have already known by now."

Caroline turned to the witches and reminded them with her cyan eyes flaring up in determination. "Look, I can handle myself. I don't need anyone coming to my aid. I appreciate the help, but I can take care of myself. I'm not helpless."

"We'll see about that. Now let's get your hair situated. One quick heat spell should do the trick." Maggie quickly muttered something in Latin with a snap of her fingers. A blast of heat rushed through Caroline's face blowing through her blonde hair wildly. Caroline almost jumped out of her skin with the sudden spell. After the quick gust of heat, surprise became visible in Caroline's face as she stroked her hair through with her fingers.

"Wow." It was the only word Caroline could say.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Charlene, are you done yet?" Maggie impatiently drummed her fingers against the wooden dresser.

"Give me a second! A little help here would be nice!" Charlene barked as she struggled to tie the back of the infernal contraption.

"Come here. I swear it's like dealing with children." Maggie complained leaving Caroline at the dresser to help Charlene. "One good yank ought to be good." Then with a good tug, she managed to get the corset done right with Charlene's squeal as the result.

"Damn! Take it easy!" Charlene swore trying to get some breathing back into her lungs. "Just you wait until I get to do that to you."

"Oh, but you can't though because I'm not going tonight. I'm perfectly happy here. So don't try that stunt with me. Let's get into your dresses before I have a headache."

Caroline saw two dresses laid out on the bed. One of them was red while the other was blue. Both of them were beautiful for early 20th century clothing. Both of them had a low-V neckline showing daring cleavage. Both of the dresses had beautiful elaborate designs sewn into the dresses, but both of them were different. The red one had silver and ivory designs while the blur had more dark navy and shades of cyan in the dress with a dash of white thrown in.

Glancing at the blue dress, she knew what her first choice was. She didn't want the blue. She was up for something a little more daring. "I'll take the red one."

Charlene nodded in agreement. "Okay. I always kind of thought that blue was more of your color, though."

Great. Just great. Now she had to remind Caroline of what she didn't want to remember.

Maggie helped out Caroline into the red dress in silence at the same time as Charlene had no trouble getting into the blue dress on her own. It was a lot easier to get into the dress than to put on a corset. Damn those things!

"So, do any of you know what you want as for your hair?" Maggie's boredom started to rear back in with all of the dull dialogue exchanged, but she pushed herself through it.

"I can fix my own hair. You can fix Caroline's."

"Just what I need." Maggie muttered.

Caroline couldn't agree with her more. Like she wanted that witch to mess with her hair.

"I'll be quick about it. Don't get your panties up in a knot." Maggie decided to test with Caroline's hair messing around until she found something to be able to work with. Soon enough, Maggie had brushed, combed, and done everything in between to get the right fit for Caroline. She managed it doing the finishing touches. "Voila! My work here is done."

Caroline's hair was up in a simple yet elegant bun with some blonde ringlets falling around her face. Maggie didn't sabotage her hair like she almost imagined she would do. Maybe Magdalena….who knows?

"Now, if you excuse me, I'll be on my way." Maggie circled around bearing course to the bedroom door.

"Thank you," Caroline called loudly to her before she left.

After a silent moment, Maggie replied with a much hidden smile you did not see you were up close. "You're welcome."

After Maggie left, Charlene pulled up a chair beside Caroline. "Now, for the final step. Or at least the second to last step is better wording for this. Is there any certain look you're trying to pull off?"

"I was thinking something bold. Daring. That's why I picked the red dress." Caroline explained.

Charlene's mischievous smirk rivaled Kol's with her little idea forming inside. "Oh, I get it. You're trying to make a statement. This, I can definitely work with. I know just how to do it."

Caroline laughed. It really felt good to have some girl time. It was much needed. Damn, she never thought she had been that neglected up until now. When was the last time Elena, Bonnie, or her ever did this? It seemed forever ago.

"When I'm finished with you, you're going to be gorgeous. Let's get started."

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

Saints and Sinners. This was Marcel's palace of where he reigned as king. Grand, Gothic, and in Louisiana-style. It was the perfect place for any supernatural citizen of New Orleans to have a good time. It had everything that made New Orleans superb. Or at the least the darker, sinful side of it. Gambling, drinking, pleasure, and even more to sate those dark desires of the heart.

"This is the place you wanted to buy me a drink?" Caroline asked, really wondering if she shouldn't have take up on his offer after all.

"Have I really given you any indication not to trust me?" Kol asked honestly.

"Are you seriously asking that question?" Charlene countered back at him, truly thinking that the damn fool was out of his mind.

"I wanted to make it up to you. Something grand. Something I think both of you will enjoy. Now, come along." Kol ushered both of his beautiful ladies in with one hand on each of the small of their back.

Both Caroline and Charlene looked their best. Caroline pulled off the audacious statement down to the letter. With also the help of the resident blonde witch, of course. Her smoky eye make-up made her eyes pop out with dangerously dark red lipstick added taking on a more luscious look. She had jewelry adorning on her. Especially the necklace enhancing and attracting attention to her neck. She wanted to make a statement. She definitely made one.

Charlene, on the other hand, wasn't one for an attention grabber. Surely, she was beautiful. But, she decided more of a subtlety appearance this time. The blue dress brought out her even lighter blue eyes. She had jewelry too, but not as much. Her hair was pulled to the side over her shoulder in a neat ponytail. Her lipstick was more of a paler pink. She fit the definition of subtle.

As they ventured inside, two vampire guards stood menacingly before they crossed the boundary line. "Were you invited?" one of the guards asked.

"Of course. If you excuse, me and my company of ladies would like to get through," Kol said urgently not in the mood for delay. The guard though had other ideas though.

"You cannot not go through without invitation." the guard gruffly repeated.

Kol's scowl deepened. He grabbed the vampire guard by his shirt collar slamming him into the wall holding him up with natural strength. "Are you sure you want to really go against me? I tend to leave a rather bloody mess behind. Figuratively and literally."

"It's all right, Andrew. Let our guests through. I'm sure they didn't come this way for nothing," a male charismatic voice spoke.

The trio saw a tall man emerging from the shadows to their eyesight. Caroline nervously wrapped her shawl around herself closer as Charlene took deep breaths trying to slow her racing heartbeat.

The man's Chesire cat grin really sent Charlene's witch instincts on overdrive. He was dangerous. Those dark, back eyes made her almost cower, but she didn't show any emotion.

"Oh, now you decided to show up."

"This is how you treat for all of my hospitality? You should know better than that, Kol." His pristine white teeth almost glowed with the evil grin that tugged on the corner of his lips. He heard the shorter blonde girl's heart pulse galloping inside her body pumping her blood. Then he smelled the very peculiar scent of the other girl. He would need to find out more about this later on.

"Welcome to my palace. My name is Marcel. I will be your host this evening."

_**A shot in the dark  
A past lost in space  
And where do I start?  
The past and the chase  
You hunted me down  
Like a wolf, a predator  
I felt like a deer in your lights**_

"_**She-Wolf (Falling To Pieces)," by David Guetta ft. Sia**_


	8. Dance With The Devil

**A/n: I want to thank all of those who reviewed and supported this story. Oh, with the show! I love to hear your thoughts. **

**Oh, I'm really sorry for being so demanding. It was way out of line for me. I just wanted to get that out of my system. Let's enjoy the chapter, shall we? **

**This chapter is dedicated to two of my best friends. Sci-fi Christian and Damon's Charlene! Both of them have been there with me through when I was at my best and worst. Check out their stories. Both of them write great. **

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.**

Chapter 8: Dance With The Devil

_Present - 2011_

She wasn't the one for being in one place. People would call her a free spirit, generally. She was always like that. Ever since she could walk, she was always on the go wherever her feet took her. But, this was the one place she never sought to find answers were in this one small town. Living in such a metropolitan city for so long does wonders to you.

Walking up the staircase to the real first floor, she strode over to the backyard feeling the cold air seep to her bones. She stretched her arms above her head gathering more feeling to her limbs. It feels good to be out of the basement.

Her light eyes turned upward looking at the stars. The night sky was blanketed with millions of them. There was a full moon out tonight too.

Full moon…

That reminded her.

"What's the point of you checking on my wellbeing if all you've done is kept me at your beck and call?" She never liked that. But, she had no choice.

He chuckled darkly. "I haven't heard of you complain about it before."

She turned around not surprised of who graced his presence to her. Or rather the other way around that would make more sense.

"That's because I was there for my friends. My family," she answered with her eyes second glancing towards the wolf beside him. Why? Are we all just broken souls in the bitter end of it all?

"You'll get what you want. All in due time," he reassured her, but it only took an opposite effect on her.

"I doubt that," she spoke. "In order to get what I want, I had to make a deal with the devil. How do you think that makes me feel? It's not all bunnies and rainbows, Klaus."

Klaus sauntered closer to her until they were within five feet of each other. He already knew a long time ago about her uneasiness around other vampires since she was a witch. That nervousness grew even more when there was an Original vampire around because they made her edgy in the first place. It's a profound effect the Mikaelson family has. Genetic, also too.

"What's with the wittiness all the sudden? Usually that's not your trademark, love."

That was someone else's trademark. That personality itself can be very tiring sometimes dealing with. The smartass mouth that always came back with a joke and clever play on words. And of the things that really drove Klaus up with the wall, was the stubbornness. He was thankful he didn't have to deal with that right now.

"Someone has to keep up with you, and I wouldn't call it wittiness. I'd like to rather think of it as me being clever. I'm not just any witch, you know," she answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"I didn't forget. You were trained under the best. I would know."

The witch scoffed at him. "Like you would know anything about magic. You're a hybrid. Unless there was something impossible the spirits did that I didn't know about."

His eyes, which held its wicked mirth, darkened bringing back his previous anguish from before. His face was tense. "I would tone down on the insults, love. Don't dig yourself a hole you can't get out of."

The she-wolf felt the tension filling the air, and took precaution. She left Klaus's side and hopped into a defensive stance protecting the witch. Klaus saw this stopping himself with his wolf blocking his path. Before he made a move, he stepped back chortling at his wolf.

Always loyal to the end.

It was taking so much of the wolf's control to not let her heartbeat race with all of the adrenaline in her system. The stress of recent events had been pressuring, but she took care of it. She didn't growl or make any threatened sound. Klaus's anger didn't need to be incensed as it already was. But, she resounded a pleading whine trying to appease him.

She felt a soft hand stroking her fur from her head down to her back trying to ease the tense stance the wolf stood in. The witch dropped to the wolf's height and gazed directly into her eyes as she petted the wolf. "It's okay. I can handle myself. You don't need to protect everyone. Take it easy."

The she-wolf would have responded, but no sound came out. The witch took note of the wolf's condition. She will have a word with Klaus about this. There's no logic of having the she-wolf working so hard if it was going to have a negative effect on her health. She sent a heavy glare Klaus's way.

Begrudgingly, he leaned town toward his wolf holding her muzzled face in his hands. "Get some sleep, sweetheart. You worked hard enough today."

She looked from Klaus to the other witch, and then back to Klaus. He nodded to her showing his approval. Without another delay, she walked slowly back sluggishly into the mansion hopefully to get more of the rest she deserved.

The witch watched the wolf do his bidding. The she-wolf was protective of everyone she cared about, but in the end that loyalty always will come back to where it began. It always began with Klaus.

But, she knew as well Klaus tried to deny many times that there will come a point where it would come to a head. She didn't want to be there when that happened.

"I hope you don't take it too far with her," the witch stated concerned about the wolf's present health.

"I take care of her well. Don't worry about her. I wouldn't. I'd like to think you should be worried about yourself, considering what you have at stake," the hybrid devil sneered.

The witch's rare anger began to seep into her bones causing everything her to slightly shake, but she had more control so it didn't come off as badly. "I only came here for information. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Oh, but I know that you are a very bad lair. I know there's something else. More like a certain _someone _pressing on your brain." Klaus smirked watching her. Her face was emotionless, but her eyes displayed the real message. What also didn't help was the old habit that refused to die down even after a century. She kept biting her lip. He ensnared her now. "I might add that this certain someone's name with the initials D and S."

The breath inside of her lungs hitched at the mention of those two initials. Damn him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Klaus flashed in front of her closing in on her face. "Don't lie to me, witch. Do you know how every cell in my body desires to eradicate them?"

She was by no means a hostile individual, but she wasn't going to be threatened without her right to defend herself. Though several inches taller than her, the witch didn't back down. Looking dead in the eyes, she countered his question with her own, "Do you know how much I was just want to say 'to hell with your plans?'"

"There are other witches I can use to replace you," Klaus threatened.

She highly doubted him. "Your threats are empty. Besides, where are you going to find a witch at this time of night? Currently, you're boxed in this small town. No way in, no way out. Besides, there is no other witch like me."

Klaus scoffed laughing, but he knew deep down that she was speaking the truth. He was fully aware from experience who he was contending with. Just because he was still the most powerful creature on Earth (under Silas), there were few who were still capable of going against him a few rounds. There were few, but it was enough to keep up his guard. Given who she was trained under, she was definitely not to be underestimated.

"If you want the spell to stay up and running, you have to keep your end of the bargain. Break it, and there won't be any satisfaction for you in the end. I don't take kindly to threats, Klaus. My loyalty doesn't belong to you like someone else I know."

"Dually noted."

The witch had nothing more to say to the hybrid. Klaus stormed back into the mansion leaving the witch alone to herself again.

She exhaled the heavy breath she had been holding inside her chest. All of the emotions she had been holding in finally crashed down. Her legs became numb causing her to fall back into one of the lawn chairs. She gathered her legs and wrapped her arms around herself rocking back and forth. Silent sobs wracked her body. She didn't dare to utter a sound. She wouldn't let Klaus or anyone else to hear her.

The witch kept her problems to herself. She never voiced her problems to others. She preferred to be in silence alone than in a crowd. More of a pacifist. She craved peace in her life. It was an essential element that was integrated into her as an individual more so than her nature as a witch. Growing up, her life was pretty simple. Her own little world. But, her curiosity had won in the end.

There was more to her. Something deep within her blood she can't figure out without some information. She departed for the open road. It was simple until it came tumbling down.

The strain of everything weighted on her back. There was more to Caroline's death. More to being chained to Klaus's demands. More than to keep the spell ongoing. She let her caring heart get in the way. She was ashamed. She wasn't ashamed that she cared, but ashamed for not using her common sense that her mother gave her.

Especially, when that one man was the worst of them all to pick: Damon Salvatore.

God, how did it come to this?

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

How many shots did she take? She lost count after three. No wait. She downed the next shot. Make that four and counting.

She sighed heavily glancing at herself in the mirror across from her in the bar. The young woman in her reflection was a stranger to her. Clearly, she wasn't the same girl she once was. She brushed her wavy bangs out of her eyes. It was always getting in her way, but she didn't care. Not right now.

She felt like she had aged twenty years going into her forties instead of being in her early twenties. Her skin lost its natural slightly-tanned complexion - never mind. It's too much to list. The point was that she just wasn't the same anymore. God, something wasn't right with her.

Of course, something wasn't right with her. Duh! There was always something screwed up.

She just wanted to get away for a little while. Even if it was a temporary release. She knew what little drinking did to solve anything. Her mama used to say, "Drinking just eats away at the soul. Before you know it, you're drowning in it and it'll be hard to come up for air." But, her mother's words fell only onto deaf ears. Her mother wouldn't be the only one who would through a conniption fit letting herself go like this.

But, there was no one anymore. At least, no one that she that she knew. Most of them were dead.

Her nose caught a whiff of a very strange scent. It was familiar yet it wasn't. Keeping herself inconspicuous, she resumed her drinking, but her eyes added up to who had the unexpected aroma. In the mirror, she surveyed four people coming through the entrance of Saints and Sinners. She had enough knowledge to know it wasn't just ordinary humans.

The one she was most familiar with was Marcel. She never associated with him, but whispers among the supernatural knew who the head honcho of New Orleans was. She may have only been of the supernatural nature for a few months, but you learn hard and quickly who was on top of the food chain. She wasn't afraid to fight. Often as of late, she had been caught up in a fight or two needing a release of the pent up emotion inside of her.

Next, was the young blonde woman with the calm yet cautious façade. Gulping another shot making this the fifth one, the woman watching knew what the blonde was like the back of her hand. She had been practically raised around it even though the power of magic was not in her bloodline. She knew of a few herbs here and there thanks to growing up around a witch for company.

The last two people were the most unknown, but she could tell both were dangerous. It was hard to make out which was more dangerous: the male or the female. The cocky brat she had seen before, but never recollected on his name. She had gone to a party once or twice getting caught up with the drinking and craziness. He was a total party animal. He wasn't the only one capable of being a smartass.

At last, she observed the other blonde girl over there who almost reminded…that was a while back. But, the scent threw her off. It was so familiar to her own. To her own kind. But, it couldn't be possible. Almost like…that was when she knew.

Before she could get up, a white-hot pain pulsed through her abdomen making her body lurch forward. "Not now. Damn it. Not now." She grunted in pain.

She held her stomach trying to get up from the stool and away from the bar avoiding attention. She paid the bartender and strained to get out. It couldn't be tonight. It was too early. Why now in public? It was torture enough as it is.

Struggling, she ignored all of the confused eyes on her back making her way to the powder room. Hastily, she locked the door behind her crawling in pain to lean against the back wall to keep her up. Another round of torture coursed through her body. A muffled cry of pain came through her throat as she bit her tongue silencing herself. She tasted the coppery taste of blood from her mouth just reminding her of what was to come.

Beads of sweat started to form across her forehead perspiring her skin making her feel slick and grimy. Everything around her became hotter making it harder for her to breath. She stripped of her dress in vain trying to make herself cooler.

She still didn't get the picture though. The whole logic behind this madness was difficult to comprehend. How her family could glorify this damn curse as something to be good? How is breaking every bone in your body as something to be proud of?

It kept coming in waves at first. She closed her eyes tightly bracing for the impact. The white hot pain shot through her for a few minutes giving her little time to recuperate and prepare for the next cycle. But, it was only the beginning. Soon, it would be never ending.

It wouldn't be long before she would bring hell to another batch of victims. Her agony would repeat like it had happened the first time, and it will always repeat.

Soon, _he_ would have to save her again from herself.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"You're the king of New Orleans?" Caroline's words slipped from her tongue.

But, Marcel took no offense. The way he looked at her was more of pure fascination. "Ah…King…you know, I never get tired of tat name. It suits all too well."

Marcel's dark eyes shifted to the other young lady standing beside Kol. He distinguished the fact that the younger girl was a witch. And also was probably the same age as the other blonde girl in their little trio. There were subtle differences in the girls. While the witch had a more relaxed attitude, the peculiar feminine creature had more of a fire to her. He definitely liked this.

He offered his arm to Caroline. "Shall we, my lady?"

Caroline stood undecidedly for a second, but with some courage, she took his arm linking them together. Marcel escorted Caroline to his private table leaving the witch and Original vampire left. Kol also offered his arm to the Charlene being a gentleman for once. "May I?"

Charlene sighed. "You might as well go for it." She copied Caroline's action linking herself to Kol's arm. They followed Marcel and Caroline to an exclusive table. It had a very good view of the dining tables, bar, entertainment, and the gambling portion of it all.

Marcel sat at his position as head of the table with Caroline on his left and Charlene on his right with Kol sitting right next to her. The vampire-king wasn't one for manners generally. Only an occurrence once or twice occasionally. This magnificent creature really caught his intrigue, but it's a matter of how long that interest will last. Marcel gets bored rather easily.

"Bring out the champagne," he ordered one of his servants.

Charlene stiffened at the mention of anything alcohol. Caroline noticed this, and she wasn't the only one.

"Is there something wrong?" Marcel inquired.

"No, not at all. Just a bit chilly." Charlene answered shaking the edge off. It wasn't that she didn't like drinking. It's that a lot of what comes out of her mouth is uncensored with enough drinks in her bloodstream.

Caroline and Charlene exchanged glances, but Charlene nodded to her letting her know she would be okay. The compelled human servant did what he asked bringing four champagne flutes on a silver tray while wheeling in a bucket filled with ice; the expensive bottle of champagne laid well inside the ice nice and cold. The servants passed out each a flute to Marcel's guests pouring in the sparkling wine in each so after.

After the servants finished Marcel's demand, he stopped them once again. "Wait a minute. Kol, don't you think that something's missing for this?" He asked giving him a knowing glance.

Kol caught the gist of it. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean."

Without warning, both Marcel and Kol seized a compelled human servant for their own biting into their neck with their true natures showing. Charlene naturally cringed from the grotesque display of what is considered to be their normal eating diet. Caroline restrained herself from her vampire part taking over, but she even knew that the smell of fresh blood was appetizing. The veins around her eyes glinted dark for a second, her true nature aching through.

"Aren't you going to join us? Or are you on one of those vegetarian diets?" Marcel asked finishing the use of his human's neck dripping the blood into the flute.

"It doesn't take much, darling. Just take a quick bite. Just like this." He demonstrated by going in for a second bite of the currently hostage he had hold off. The second bite brought in a fresh session of blood dripping into Kol's glass as an added bonus from before. It amazed Charlene that none of the compelled even uttered a sound in reaction.

Caroline eyed a male servant standing close to her. Average, but it was good enough for her thirst. Still caring enough, she stood up in her seat and stared directly into his eyes. Her eyes dilated. "Don't panic, and let me take care of things. You can go after that, okay."

"Okay," he understood repeating her last word like a robotic drone.

Her fangs gave in to the throbbing, and lengthened out revealing her white teeth. Holding his wrist, she broke the skin just enough to draw enough a good decent flow of blood that trickled into the champagne. She let go of him and dismissed him, "You can go."

Marcel let all of his bitten servants go to their business by clapping his hands. "Shoo, all of you." He scoured them away like common rats. He then resumed his conversation with the other three. "So, where were we? Oh, yes. Since I introduced myself, I would like to know who you are."

Charlene decided to get it over with saving Caroline the effort. "I'm sure you know Adelaide from what I can see of how you interact with Kol. He does tend let his mouth run away with him from time to time."

"I'm going to have to agree with you there." Caroline laughed as Kol glared a bit by the witch's clever statement.

"Well, these two interesting ladies have been under Adelaide's wing for a while. The lady you just heard speak now was the ever clever witch, Charlene Davis. Now, the other stunning young woman you see next to you is Caroline." Kol explained with evil thoughts of draining Charlene running amuck in his brain.

"Charlene and Caroline." He tested their names letting them roll off of his tongue as if he was trying to new food. "It suits you well. It's just like how my title does with me. But, enough with the pleasantries. We need to get this running along."

"At least you've finally come to your senses. Usually, you jump right into the entertainment," Kol said with a smirk.

Marcel smirked in return, and raised his glass in a toast. "Pour une bonne santé et à la gloire de la Nouvelle-Orléans."

Everyone followed suit raising their glasses. Charlene and Kol had no problem communicating back in French from what Caroline could reckon, but it still left Caroline helpless not knowing what they're saying. Not wanting to embarrass herself, she raised her glass silently, and lifted it to her mouth tasting the blood-added champagne. Trying to work through her confusion, she silently mouthed to Charlene, "What did they say earlier?"

Charlene shook her head and mouthed back, "Don't worry about it."

"Do you know the history of New Orleans, Caroline?"

Caroline shifted in her seat uncomfortably feeling the weight of the vampire-king's stare on her. Carefully picking her words, she answered, "I've never been anywhere else outside of my home town."

"And that would be if I may ask?" Marcel drank a sip of his champagne waiting for Caroline's reply.

"I'm from a small town in Virginia. It's no big deal, really." Caroline answered honestly. Mystic Falls wasn't missing her that much anyway.

"You must have come a long way to come down here." Marcel mused. Oh, he had no idea how long of way she did get to here. And not in a way like he thought so either.

"Oh, yes. But, it was worth it. She certainly made it more interesting with her as company." Charlene stated with a friendly smile. Caroline smiled back; glad to have made a friend in this whole messed up situation she was in.

"Well, let's dig into some dinner. While Louisiana is rich in life itself, it also has a define richness in flavor when it comes to the cuisine too. Bring everything in." Marcel clapped his eyes with the servants scrambling again to get his orders right.

Caroline and Charlene exchanged looks again fully agreeing that this was going to be a long night.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"Please! Don't hurt me. I won't say anything." The young redheaded girl pleaded for her life unable to move her body. But, he didn't care. She was just a meal.

"It won't be a problem, love. Besides, you'll be dead in just a little bit. Good bye," he purred to her with false security in his tone. He walked behind her smelling the fear that leaked from her pores. Oh, how he craved it. That natural fear of the prey being caught by the predator was an addiction. He lived up to his natural role in his life. This was his stage and he was the star.

He brushed back her hair back over to the side exposing the pale-freckled flesh. Holding her still, his hands felt her skin almost caressing it. His eyes became dark, and his long pointed teeth tore into her neck. He drained her of the succulent blood that previously flowed in her body. Once he finished, he tossed the lifeless body aside not caring who caught on.

He was an Original. The strongest of them all. He couldn't get caught. He wouldn't get caught.

He had searched for a while. She was smart to use water as to cover her scent from him. That's why he took her in. He saw her giving in to her true nature that was not so long ago. She ripped the flesh of those who wronged her in her fury. You can't keep the beast inside of you caged up for too long. Everyone has their breaking point.

But, due to her nature and precarious mental health, he had to pay more attention of her actions. But, it wouldn't be long before she would fit to his plans. Time has no meaning for a vampire. The better phrase would be this: time has no meaning for a hybrid.

Klaus was always one with a plan. He had to since he had run from his father for so long. He almost had it perfected. There was always a motive to the ulterior motive.

The hybrid's mind had racked with questions for a while too. A very strange occurrence came to pass not too long ago. He didn't ponder too long on the date of when. Too much waste of time. But, he didn't like to have questions unanswered. There was a certain instinct that drove him to here, but he just used the mandatory importance of finding out where his wolf had run off to as an excuse. His stormy blue eyes caught the place of where his answer was: Saints and Sinners.

_**Trembling, crawling across my skin  
Feeling your cold dead eyes, stealing the life of mine.  
**__**I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.  
**__**I won't last long, in this world so wrong**_  


"_**Dance With The Devil," by Breaking Benjamin**_


	9. Howl

**A/n: I'm sorry if I had caused so much confusion with the time changes and not saying anything. Please remember, this is the first time I had ever done a time-travel fanfic, so I'm working out the kinks. **

**Now, I listened to one of the reviewers suggestions, and I reedited to where you can see what time who are in. You have the present time back in Mystic Falls, and then you have the past where Caroline had traveled back. Still sorry for all of the confusion. In my story, everything has a reason. There is no coincidence. Most of the time is what I mean. KLAROLINE IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**Thank you all of those who reviewed, favorited, or alerted the last chapter!**

**Anyway, enjoy the story and please review! I love the support!**

**Disclaimer: I do not TVD or the facts I used from Wikipedia.**

Chapter 9: Howl

The Other Side was in chaos. Some of them were outraged. Some were doubtful, but a resolute few were set in their beliefs of this plan. There was no changing it now. They had done the deed. She was the sacrifice.

They still watched. The future was bleak. But, the past and present pave the road that leads to the future.

Anything can happen, but is it worth the cost?

Sacrifices were going to be made. They didn't want any more death as much as the next person, but the desires of the few are always outweighed by the needs of the many.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

New York City. The city that never sleeps. Too many people. Too much going on for anyone to notice. Perfect hunting ground for any average vampire. But, Katherine Pierce or formerly known as "Katerina Petrova," wasn't just your ordinary average vampire.

She sat comfortably on her couch in her current apartment bored surfing the over 800 channels that had nothing on. Funny story to that, she compelled a newlywed couple to get the hell out of dodge. They were about to fall apart anyway. The wife was a ditz, and the husband already made it known to Katherine that he was a cheating douche bag. He flirted with her first. Katherine only played with the puppet strings a little to let the chips fall where they may.

It was fun to mess around with human's minds. She took pleasure in it. She was still on the run from a certain psychotic original hybrid, but she was an expert on covering her tracks.

She was often curious as to how everyone coped in Mystic Falls now. No new piece of information went unannounced before it came to her. She had kept tabs on them for a while.

Surprisingly, she had been curious of how Elena had been progressing as a vampire. But, then again. It really didn't. The Salvatore brothers were danger magnets with anything Petrova added into it. Ask, Katherine. She experienced it herself.

She almost laughed out loud finding out about their current predicament with the sire bond. Oh, how she wished that she could just laugh in their faces showing them how pathetic they were. Stefan, she understood well enough because they were an "epic" love, according to some sources. But, really? Damon Salvatore? Someone must have replaced Damon from the one she recognized. Poor Elena, always the victim. It's growing comical in Katherine's mind.

To be honest, she thought he'd go for someone who at least be able to stand on there own two feet. Damon wasn't one for weakness as far as she grasped the situation.

She also had heard of Caroline Forbes' tragic death. Now, she had to admit at least that vampire had a strength that Elena failed to possess. Jeez, what the hell has the world come to?

The ring tone of her cell phone stole her attention.

**Caller Unknown**

She might as well let it ring for a little bit. She wasn't going to talk to any stranger. The phone rang until it came to her voicemail. The unknown caller didn't leave any message. Only a missed call.

"Oh, well. Not my problem." She drew her attention back to flipping channels still bored as ever. But, that's when the phone rang again.

Another unknown.

Annoyed, Kat silenced her phone pressing the ignore button on the screen. That's when her phone beeped with a text alert.

"Oh, what now?" She exasperated. Picking up her phone, she unlocked her phone heading to her message app. The brunette vampire peered at the new text message.

_**Unknown: **__You better call back or there is no bloody deal! _

Katherine scoffed at the text. "Okay, Mr. Big Shot. Two can play at that game."

_**Kat: **__I'm not doing anything until I see proof of the insurance. You know who I'm talking about. Take it or leave it. _

She typed in the message and press sent. There wasn't another reply for a few minutes. Before she was just about to give it up, her phone rang again. Sighing, she answered it, but she stayed silent. The other voice on the other end shocked her. That's pretty odd.

Katherine smirked. Well, this was unexpected.

"Long time no see. So, he sent you? What did he say?"

Her face furrowed deep in thought as she heard the voice on the other line.

"Okay. I can deal with that. But, you tell him any delays or any tricks, he can kiss this deal goodbye. I'm not going to try this again. I'll talk to you later." She hung up on the phone without saying another word.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

Indeed, Caroline had been right. The night was long. It seemed to never end. It would have felt even longer if it weren't for the delectable food and champagne. The champagne had done its work slightly relaxing her as time passed. Marcel's ever watchful eyes almost made her bare in his gaze.

"Are you familiar with the foundation of New Orleans, Charlene?" Marcel asked testing of the young witch's intelligence.

"Who from Louisiana isn't familiar with a little history of our beloved state?" Marcel laughed at the witch's remark. "Perhaps, you would help Caroline as to teach her a little history lesson?" Charlene suggested.

"So am I going to learn the old boring history book version, or are we going to talk about the supernatural portion?" Caroline asked hoping to move the conversation along.

"There's a bit of both actually. Marcel, if you would start…" Kol said handing the task to the vampire king.

"Very well then," Marcel began, "I'll give you the easier version. New Orleans was founded May 7, 1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. I know. The name is terribly long. Anyway, it was named for Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time. His title came from the French city of Orléans. But, that's getting rather boring explaining that piece of information. The interesting part gets to Klaus actually. He was one of those who founded New Orleans."

Caroline sputtered while drinking her glass of champagne, ending up spitting the drink almost across the room almost to Charlene. Thankfully, the witch wasn't too affected being in the line of fire.

"Seriously? Klaus founded New Orleans?" Disbelief was all over in her face listening to this new piece of information.

"This is a new one for me too," Charlene agreed as she grabbed a napkin from the table trying to clean herself off.

"He's quite right. Marcel was with Klaus when the hybrid helped build New Orleans years ago, and took over as the leader once he left. There is kind of a bit of a power struggle issue due to some matters." Kol explained.

"Yup, that's the story of his life. That about sums it up." Caroline muttered referring to Klaus.

"You're more interesting than you look, Caroline. I like that," Marcel complimented her. Caroline seemed more uncomfortable by the second. Caroline sent a silent pleading look to Charlene, but she was at a loss.

"I think I know what we can to get the edge off," Kol said sipping the last remnants of the bloody champagne. Who'd thought Kol would be her savior in this situation.

Oh, let's see what he would come up with this time. "And, what would that be?" Caroline asked with skeptical eyes.

Kol smirked waiting for something else to give away his answer. Rich rhythms of the accordion, fiddle, and other instruments that blended with the music. Caroline listened in as her foot subconsciously tapped to the beat of the composition.

"I think that will be my answer for your question." Kol said getting up from his seat.

"What kind of music is this?" Caroline asked, her curiosity setting in.

"This is the music that brings us to life down in Louisiana," Marcel answered proudly, "Kol, why don't you take her for a dance? The night is still young."

Caroline's bubble was being invaded by Kol as he walked closer to her waiting for her to stand. Caroline turned to Charlene hoping for her to save her from the situation, but Charlene didn't come to her aid. Crap.

"You two have fun. I need to get up, anyway. My legs feel numb from not moving for so long." The blonde witch pushed her chair out and proceeded to stand heading for her way towards away from the already suffocating atmosphere.

So, Caroline was left alone to fend for herself. She can totally handle Kol, but dancing with him? She'd rather handle torture than dancing with him. But, the alcohol in her system was another situation. It made her more relaxed than she anticipated. So, what the hell? She needed to let off a bit of steam.

"Why not? It might be fun." Still having her dignity intact, she got herself up on her own moving out on to the dance floor where other patrons were dancing to the rich tempo.

The young Mikaelson followed her to the middle of the floor. "We're going to have to get closer. The song calls for it."

Caroline sighed heavily knowing somehow she was so going to regret this. She relaxed her tense body just enough for Kol to have one hand on the small of her back and his other hand grasping hers. She put her free hand on his shoulder, and warned him, "No funny business."

He played naturally in role as the lead in the dance. "And when do I ever give you funny business?"

Caroline scoffed as they danced to the fast beat. "Do you not know yourself?" She replied loudly over the music.

"That be true, darling. That be true." He agreed with her. "Now, go along with the beat. Don't think."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but she worked her way through what he said and soon followed through with the beat.

Meanwhile, Charlene walked slowly through the place taking her time. Her light blue eyes took everything in around her. To be frank, this place gave her the creeps. Whether it was being around so many vampires or the whole theme of this, it didn't matter. She was still on edge. Something wasn't right. Something was wrong. Her witch senses were all over the place. Her instincts kept telling her to run; to get out as fast as she could, but she ignored them.

Good thing she didn't take in so much alcohol or she wouldn't be able to function. She observed Caroline and Kol dancing to the Cajun music playing. Marcel rarely ever played it, but tonight was one of those rare occasions. Caroline was having a hard time hiding the fact she was sort of having a good time. Charlene figured that it's been a while since she had done something of that kind of activity.

Charlene declined offers to dance from the boys in the suits, even though she did admit some of them were handsome. She was supposed to be having fun, but someone had to maintain visual guard of what's happening. She still could feel the security of the hex bag she had safe in her clutch. But, she can't shake off this instinct to take Caroline and Kol and run away from here.

Deciding that she needed a refresher, the blonde-haired witch went towards the powder room. When she opened the door, the knob wouldn't nudge. It was locked. Intent on finding out why, she leaned against the locked door placing her ear hoping to hear any sound that would tell her what was going on. When she thought she would hear two people just having one of those affairs, it turned out to be only one voice. She heard a muffled guttural moan.

"Hello?" She knocked on the door three times. "Are you all right?"

She barely heard the voice reply back, but it was very forced and…almost demonic. "…stay…away…fro…me…"

The sound of bones cracking and breaking sent alarms ringing inside of Charlene's brain. Oh, man. It was a full moon tonight. How could she have forgotten? Now a werewolf was turning. What the hell? Marcel had a strict no werewolves policy on a full moon. Everyone in New Orleans understood that rule. Even Charlene did, and this had been the first time coming to Marcel's domain.

"Do you need help?" She tried to help once more seeing if she had another chance.

Incoercible mutterings and agonized moans were all she heard through the door as the bones broke more and became more pronounced.

Her instincts were now at their highest peak. It was impossible to shake off. Charlene back away from the door, ready to run, when a pair of dangerous blue eyes stared right back at her almost as if he saw her very soul.

"Oh, my God." That's all she could say.

"Not even close, love."

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"You up for a little competition?" Kol dared her as they got on top of one of the long rectangular tables as people were already going crazy with the dancing. His haughty stare just irked Caroline into wanting to prove him wrong. The music was now at a much faster pace, evoking cadences that readied Caroline for another intense round.

"Kol, don't even think you're going to win this," She said matching his smug face with her own.

"We'll see!"

He had already tossed away the coat of his suit leaving him in the white button-up shirt and dark pants. Both hands in his pockets, his feet worked in its own way to the music. Briefly, she could almost make out the humanity he had as a young man coming back to life through the song.

Caroline sizing him up, she tossed her shoes away, letting her hair down cascading down to her back, and picked up her dress letting her dark pantyhose show as she let the sounds of the Cajun rhythms take over her feet.

Kol's not one to back down from a challenge. He took it in stride as the friendly competition escalated as both of them danced onto of the table with the people cheering around them.

Then Kol came around to Caroline, grasped both of her hands, and spun both of them around.

"Kol, no!" Caroline cried trying to not to show she was having fun.

Kol just grinned at her wildly yelling, "WHOA!"

Caroline couldn't stop the squeals and laughter that had escaped from her throat as they spun. "Oh, my God. You're about to make me sick!"

Listening to her, Kol let her go, but he didn't let her go at the right time. She was too close to the edge of the table. Caroline couldn't stop herself, her footing wasn't good enough. Her foot twisted on itself, and she knew right then she was about to fall. Just when she thought the hard floor would break her fall, she landed into a pair of strong arms instead.

Not bothering to turn around, she thought Kol had saved her. "Thanks, Kol. That was a close one."

"Unfortunately, my brother wasn't the one who came to your aid."

Her blood ran cold hearing that voice. No. It couldn't be. She desperately looked to Kol, who was still standing on the table, also as shocked as she was at the person standing behind her. There was only one person in the entire world who owned that delectable voice, accent and all.

She turned around. Her worst fears had come to life.

There was Klaus, standing in the flesh.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

There he was. Niklaus Mikaelson. An Original. A wolf in sheep's clothing. A devil.

You might as well call him that. That's one of the ever adding names they call him from what Caroline saw. Too many titles.

The heavy weight of anticipation crept up to Caroline. Seeing him standing there in front of her; it only took just one look at him to dampen her almost joyful frame of mind. It was over and done with now.

A century. Practically that much back into the past, and she was naïve to think that maybe there the slightest chance that she wouldn't run into him. Very naïve of her, indeed.

Remember that old expression, "You can cut the tension with a knife?" Yeah, try that, but multiply by an hundred. That's how it felt for Caroline.

She glanced all sides of the room desperate searching for any sign of Charlene. Where was she?

"Let me go!" Charlene demanded to be released. "I had nothing to do with this!" A guard slapped her hard across her face in effort to silence her. An ugly red handprint of the administration of her wound festered on her features. Charlene quieted herself, but she still struggled against their hold. There was almost no time left. They wouldn't be able to stop it.

Caroline saw the witch captured being held by each arm. She recognized Charlene's captors from the previous guards they met first before at the door. She looked back to Kol, then to Charlene, and back to Klaus.

That's when she realized. It had all been a trap. It had to be!

"It's been a long time, Kol," the hybrid greeted his younger brother as he approached the table, deliberately slowing down in each step. Even then, he looked regal. "We finally meet after I caught up to you in this little game of hide and seek."

Kol remained unaffected outwardly by his sudden appearance. "You know me better than I thought. I commend you. It is my favorite game. It never gets old. Even with you after all these years."

Caroline wanted to run away so bad knowing full well what the damages would be, but she didn't move. She was frozen. She never had been this afraid. Not since…she can't even remember the last time.

"Let's cut the chit-chat. You know why I'm here, don't you?"

Kol grimaced. "I'm sure. I smell a trap. And I smell the presence of a dirty traitor too in our mist. I wouldn't be surprised if that certain traitor…was the vampire-king himself."

In one part of the crowds, the audience watching the exchange momentarily parted for Marcel walking his way to the two Originals like he was a famous celebrity on the red carpet. "Two of the Mikaelson brothers in my province. This is a special treat."

"We don't need more delays, mate. Get on with it." Klaus impatiently stated.

"What deal did you make with him, Marcel? I should've known you were nothing, but his lapdog." Kol taunted disgusted with the vampire-king.

Marcel humorless laughed. "You really think I would let anything threaten my throne? You were never the one for honesty, Kol. I thought you understood me more."

Kol's face held no emotion. "Deal or no deal, I am not going to be daggered and put into a box. Not by you, brother."

"Do we always have to do it the hard way?" Klaus stuck a hand inside of his suit, brandishing a silver dagger in his grip with the blade covered in white ash. Klaus flashed to his brother ready to aim for the heart. Before Caroline rethought of what she had done, using her new hybrid speed and strength, she pushed Klaus away from Kol.

Several gasps erupted as Klaus landed on several tables, many of them breaking into pieces as collateral damage. He shook his head getting rid of the dizzy vision for a second. His eyes widened for a second. It was impossible. He was the only hybrid. Only him. HIM!

But, her scent said it all. The sweet yet undead scent as a vampire, but also earthy and natural as a werewolf. It made sense. She was a hybrid.

"You're not going to hurt him. Not if I can help it." Caroline stood her ground with the beast inside of her ready to take Klaus on if she had to.

"I don't need any of your help, Caroline." Kol said full of his own pride, pushing her aside.

She glared at him. "Don't start that with me. Going against him, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Klaus stopped in front of "Caroline," as to what his brother calls her, looking at her dead in the eyes. She appeared unfazed, but inside she was reeling with fear. She didn't know what she was doing. "What makes you possibly think I would relent to your orders?"

She gulped stomaching her fear down putting on a brave face and said, "Because I know you would regret it in the end."

"May I remind all of you a little something? WE HAVE ANOTHER GIANT PROBLEM ON OUR HANDS!" Charlene yelled fighting more than ever to be free from this damn hold.

Not too far from the altercation, a distant rumble can be heard through the walls. Everything seemed to shake slightly almost like a hallucination.

Then time slowed, but gained speed with the sounds only they could see, but not hear.

Crack.

Boom.

Clatter.

Clang.

Smash.

Thump.

Din.

Bang.

Crash.

Snap.

The locked door to the powder room, burst into the pieces making wood rain on top of the other vampires and human servants below. A piercing roar echoed through the silence revealing where the roar belonged to. A massive brown wolf blurred over to one of the vampires, holding it down with its weight. The monster sunk its sharp teeth into the screaming vampire, tearing and shredding into the meat of the body.

Caroline gasped in horror reliving Tyler's transformation in front of her. Marcel fled from the scene like the coward he was seeing the werewolf's yellow eyes glaring at him. She went after him first, but the spicy coppery smell of blood wafted to her nose. In a frantic haze with an insatiable hunger, the wolf jumpstarted into a run and ran into the night damaging more things in its wake. Wide spread panic arisen as the people of Saints and Sinners fled from the from place.

"That's it!" Charlene had enough of being helpless. In the rush of the moment, she had shot pain to both of the vampires who held her prisoner before, making both of them drop to the ground holding their heads. "Wow, I never thought I would do that." Charlene commented surprised of her own strength.

Kol took the opportunity of Klaus distracted, to try to take away the dagger ensuing a fight to the death between the two brothers. Caroline checked over the witch seeing if there were any injuries.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Right now, you need to get out here." Charlene warned Caroline.

"I need to help you." Caroline argued stubbornly.

"You're the only person that's able to turn. You need to stop that wolf before it kills any more people." Charlene said. "There's no time. You need to go."

"But-"

"Go! I can help Kol for a little while. Don't worry about me now. Go!" Charlene said running into the fray hoping to do something right for a change.

Caroline had no choice, but to do what she said.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

Caroline rushed after the werewolf with every once of energy she could muster out of her new body. She zipped through the streets of New Orleans. Her undead heart pumped fast inside of her chest in overdrive.

Soon enough, after jumping many fences and crossing many alleys, she came across a dense forest with thick branches covering any sight of the dark sky.

There was no way she could excavate through the entire forest all night. There was only one way to do this.

She would have to do it. Closing her eyes, she concentrated.

Every bone in her body twisted and cracked as she concentrated on turning. Anger was the trigger to start, so she tried to dig up any negative feelings she had left to ignite the transformation. Flashes of what used to be her present came forward as clear as she wanted them to be. The rawer, the faster she would be able to turn. Caroline groaned as the wolf part of her hybrid nature finally came into play, revealing her true wolf form.

Caroline felt odd as she stood on all fours instead of two, but she couldn't shake off the riveting sensations that as a wolf that she began to comprehend. With no time to waste, she tested her new body by running as best as she could with four legs. The pull of the moon called to her with its song as her adrenaline coursed through her veins. The wind ran through her thick fur as the flashed over the forest floor. She could sense the wolf nearby smelling her scent not too far from where she was heading.

_Where is it? _Caroline wondered in frustration. That's when she almost jumped ten feet backward. Did she just talk?

_Whoa. _She voiced in her mind testing what's going on. _That's so weird. _Clearing her mind, she focused on her main goal. Operation: Find Werewolf was in commence.

Her eyesight as a wolf was like when she was in her regular form, but transferred as a wolf. Caroline wondered what her appearance as a wolf was. She treaded carefully through the wilderness, her head turning side to side looking for the werewolf. Then…**snap!**

A huge weight of fur pummeled into Caroline causing her to land on her side against a tree. She opened her eyes again catching the wolf finally within her sights. With the shrouded trees covering the sky, little moonlight was barely able to penetrate it. Caroline strained her eyes to see where the wolf was. She couldn't see fully, but what she did see were fierce glowing yellow eyes and white canines stained with red from the blood of its victims.

She struggled to get up trying to find her footing. There was little time for her to dodge when the wolf combated her again lounging in for the kill.

_Stop this! Listen to me! _Caroline mentally bellowed hoping to get the wolf's attention.

…_kill…kill…won't let…won't lose…never…_A surprisingly female voice spilled into Caroline's mind as she listened in. The wolf's mind was scrambled with no end to it all. It was hard to decipher what was going on. The werewolf's thoughts were too muddled and clustered. She never would have imagined that the huge wolf would be a female.

The werewolf stalked around Caroline's ground snarling with a feral gaze. Caroline finally got her footing, and decided if she wasn't going to listen to reason, Caroline would have to talk through the language the other would only understand.

With her instincts taking over, she jumped right into the wild side. Her blue eyes narrowed dangerously, the blonde wolf's fur bristled, her ears peeled back, and her lips curled back emitting a growl. They stalked each other in a circle, growls and snarls as their only mantra.

Both of them felt the power pour into them as both of them came closer needing to release. Then suddenly, both werewolf and hybrid collided. Blue eyes against golden. Caroline didn't have the luxury to think of what her next move should be. It was all instinct now.

It felt like a century of time passed as they fought for dominance. For the other werewolf, it was her anger and need to kill that fueled that stubbornness to win. With Caroline, it was for her survival, but she wanted the wolf to see reason. It wasn't her fault for having a curse of that magnitude.

They leapt at each other desperate to get moves in, at least trying to get some attacks somehow. Caroline felt unsure of this. She never anticipated fighting a wolf, let alone as one too. She was off her game.

Both of them clawed at each other trying to dominate the situation. This werewolf already proved to be a worthy opponent. Then the other wolf went snuck in another move, knocking Caroline into the ground into submission.

The other werewolf had Caroline pinned down on her back, proving who won this round. Caroline pleaded silently, _It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. You don't have to do this. _

…_no…not again…will not…lies…control…kill…KILL…_She sunk her canines into Caroline's neck causing her more pain. Before she tore Caroline to shreds, the werewolf was lifted into the air and thrown away from Caroline. Caroline's new wound festered and burned which was odd because werewolf venom shouldn't have affected her. But, that's when she smelled it. Vervain. The wolf had been ingesting vervain. Caroline then felt the cuts and damage the other wolf caused. They burned and stung like hell.

The wolf turned to attack Caroline again, angry even more for someone interfering with her fight. She pounced in, but then whined in agony of the pain present in her skull making her coward into the dirt. The telepathic link was still open. Caroline's vision became hazy within minutes as she had a hard time tell who was it was that saved her life.

Before the welcoming darkness pulled her in, there was a name called in the link that made her eyes widened for a split second before her vision became black.

…_.no…can't be…Adelaide…_

_**Now there's no holding back, I'm making to attack  
My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out  
**__**The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound  
**__**I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground**_  
_**Like some child possessed, the beast howls in my veins  
I want to find you tear out all your tenderness**_

_**- "Howl," by Florence and the Machine**_


	10. Illuminated

**A/n: Hi, lovelies! I hope I'm not the only one who is ready for 4x18 for a while. OMG. The Klaroline Feels. I have to admit that I've never got into such a couple like Klaroline until now. It's a really good love story. I so cannot wait to see a more shirtless Klaus again. I was WTF when Rebekah teamed up with Elena. What has the world come down to? **

**Anyway, I want to thank all of you supporting this story so far. **

**Oh, I may or may not change the rating of the story from T to M. I don't know when. But, if you want to see a lemon, let me know ahead of time. Another thing is that, I'm exploring a lot of things with this story. Hopefully, I can make this unique as possible. **

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.**

Chapter 10: Illuminated

_Present - 2011_

Rebekah paced contemplating on the outcomes of her future decision. She'd wanted to see her brother, but she was aware of the fact that she wasn't on his favorite list of people at the moment. Rebekah had no idea of how the Salvatores plus her and Elena had managed to get away unscathed so far. She glimpsed at Stefan who was still sound asleep in his bed. He would always be the better one of the Salvatore brothers in her eyes.

She slipped on a pair of black Stilettos with dark gray jeans and a silver sleeveless top. She also picked a brown leather-like jacket to battle against the cold. She looked fabulous as usual. That's one of the perks as a vampire. You never have to age.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stefan's voice pierced the silence she had hoped to use as a way to sneak out, but to no avail.

"Out."

Rebekah walked up to one of the windows unlocking it, but was stopped by a certain broody Salvatore. It was obvious what his intentions were. "Get out of my way, Stefan."

"No, I'm not going to let you go. Not when Klaus is on the warpath." Stefan reasoned with Rebekah, trying to hold her back.

"Why stop me? I do what I please. I'm not telling you again. Get out of my way." Using her strength, she pushed him aside not enough to hurt him, but to let him know to give her space.

"Wait! At least listen to me." Stefan pleaded grasping her hands.

She huffed an exasperated breath, and shrugged away from him. "Listen to what, Stefan? Some lecture on how if I go, I would endanger everyone and your precious Elena. You're lucky I haven't staked the trollop in her sleep. And frankly, you should thank me for it too."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Elena," he explained, "What I'm about to say has nothing to do with Elena. Just give me a couple of seconds to say what I have to say."

"You've got a minute. Starting now. Go."

"I know the situation has been screwed up and-"

"Really? That's your play on it. 'Screwed up'?" She cut him off.

"Never mind. It's beyond screwed up. But, look. We're caught in a net. He wants us to be paranoid every second. What we need to do is to be calm and resourceful." As much as Rebekah appreciated Stefan's concern, it was too sweet in her opinion. Maybe she should compel him to turn off his emotions. She loved the Stefan she knew back in the twenties. But, on the bright side, she did love the Sassy Stefan.

"As much as your concern for my welfare is very well touching, I'm in no mood for it. Save that cuddly nonsense for Elena. That's all you ever treat her like. As if she's some porcelain doll. I don't have time for that. Neither should you." She pecked him quickly before leaving, already rushing out of the bedroom to the outside of the property.

Deciding to take the scenic route, she took her time through the old forests of her old home. Clouds shrouded over the sky, blocking the sun's rays withholding any ability to make the shadows present. The leaves under her feet crunched with each step she took with her high heels. She smelled the thunderstorms that would soon be forming in a little while. It was going to rain soon. She's not going to risk getting wet.

She walked at a faster, human pace hoping to avoid the heavy rain coming. Within minutes, she had made it to the Mikaelson property. Hesitantly, she paused for a moment. Deep down, that humane part of her wanted her big brother back that she knew. No drama. No dagger threats. Reality is though, that they were broken a long time ago.

Rebekah wrung her hands pointlessly ash she attempted to calm her nerves. Just bloody knock! It's not hard. She knocked on the door, hopeful it wasn't Klaus who would open the door.

Not too long after she knocked, the door opened blatantly proving to Rebekah that no one gets what they wanted no matter how much you wish for it. Life's a bloody bitch.

"Little sister," Klaus acknowledged her presence leaning against the threshold, "I'm pleased that your trek here finally came to a success."

"Nik," she began, but she couldn't find her voice.

Her brother watched her with curiosity. He guessed that Rebekah was hiding her true emotions of seeing him again. Rest assured it wasn't her he was targeting. He had other plans.

"Come on in. No need to stand there like a fool." He got out of her walkway, and she strode on in with her heels clicking the hard floor.

"Don't play games with me, Nik. We don't have time for that." Her natural words slipped out before she could stop them.

Nik smirked at her knowingly. Coming down the stairs was an individual who'd she never thought to see again.

"'Lijah…" Her voice croaked.

Elijah stood there at the foot of the staircase shocked, but relieved to see her again and well. "Rebekah…"

She rushed over to her older brother and embraced him to her tight. Her floodgates opened as her emotional walls crumbled, happy to see him again. She cried silently. Her eldest brother held her close to his chest, gently shushing her to calm down. No words were needed to be spoken between them. She was just so thankful that she still had one more sibling left in the world.

"Don't you dare leave us again. You hear me," Rebekah threatened, but it was empty.

"I promise. If I do leave, I'll even let Niklaus dagger me if it means for you to make me stay here." Elijah said lightly laughing. Klaus came up to his two siblings he had left as a family. He didn't join in the embrace, but he patted Elijah's back in small brotherly affection. For a moment in all of the almost never ending darkness, all three of them felt like family. Always and forever.

Their moment ended when a small muffled boom erupted from the basement.

"Did you hear that?" Rebekah asked.

"Sister, I wouldn't recommend you snooping around where you shouldn't be." Niklaus warned to his sister, not needing any peering eyes.

But, she ignored him flashing into the basement.

"I told you that she would look." Elijah commented to his brother.

"Oh bite me, Elijah." Niklaus barked.

"NIKLAUS MIKAELSON! YOU GET THE HELL DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Rebekah's voice echoed through the mansion.

Elijah and Niklaus followed their sister to the basement smelling herbs and other unknown substances protruding the bottom floor.

Rebekah stood in shock. There in front of her was a witch she never thought she would see again. "You? You're here?"

"Hey, Rebekah. It's been awhile." The witch stated trying to clean up the mess she had made making some healing remedies.

"Why are you here?" Rebekah questioned confused about the witch's appearance after all of these years.

"Klaus didn't tell you? I thought everyone was on the same page." The witch said as she saw the female Original's eyes blazed with fury turned to her brother.

Rebekah stood stunned, but furious nonetheless. The whites of her eyes turned red as her anger fueled the transformation. Her white teeth clenched into a furious scowl. Black veins appeared under her eyes as she spun seeing her brothers. She took a wooden leg off an old wooden chair ready to use as a stake. "Someone better have a good explanation for this unless you want a blood bath on your hands."

**{Louder Than Thunder} **

_Past - 1910_

She didn't know how long she slept, but it seemed like she'd been dead for a week. Maybe even longer. You never know these days. A sharp whistle awoke her from her sleep with a start. Wisps of her blonde hair caught onto her lips making her sputter them out of the way with her mouth. Moving her hair out of her face, she already could tell that her hair looked like a rat's nest.

Shocked to see that she was human again, she brought her hands to her face almost expecting fur, but instead it was only smooth skin. Hands instead of wolf paws. There was no tail. She was standing on two legs rather than four. She was normal again. At least now for the time being.

Inspecting where she was and from the noises, she saw the outside moving away from them. The rows of seats were so comfortable. That's when she realized where she was. She was on a train.

Voices were heard behind her not too far away from where she was. Craning her head, she recognized Adelaide from the back, but there was someone else lying out across the red seat down a couple of rows from her. Adelaide murmured a few words to the tired form that was now sleeping soundly with a pillow and a blanket.

The elder witch strolled over to Caroline. "Hey, sleeping beauty. It's about time you woke up."

"How long was I out?" Caroline asked still trying to grasp the reality around her.

"Two days, but you're not the first one who'd passed out for that long. It happens to every first timer. Turning into a wolf comes with a heavy price." Adelaide handed her a brush and a mirror. "I thought you can use this. No one wants to look like a rat's nest."

"Thank you." Caroline expressed gratitude. Using the silver brush, she worked her way struggling to get through the knots and tangles. She glanced at the young woman sleeping in the row of seats wrapped up in a blanket.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" The witch asked noticing Caroline looking the young brunette sleeping a few feet away from them.

"A little bit, yeah. The only main thing I remember the most was fighting the werewolf. It was massive. Then I heard something. I thought maybe I was hallucinating. It felt like just a very bad nightmare." Caroline answered drawing up a few empty blanks in her memory.

Adelaide frowned at her answer. There was a lot to going on, and she was determined to find out. Adelaide had enough of being in the dark. She needed answers.

"You weren't hallucinating. It happened. It might occur again too if we don't get a few things straight." Adelaide placed herself in the seat next Caroline and waited for her to finish. After Caroline finished, the witch's solemn stare was enough for Caroline to figure out that Adelaide was no in mood for games. In fact, she looked rather fed up and was towards the end of her rope.

"Where are you from, Caroline?" Adelaide repeated the question that had been asked times before.

"I'm from Mystic Falls. You know that already." She answered Adele, afraid of the witch's reaction.

"You don't think I already know that? Don't play the ignorant one with me. You're too honest to do that. Now, tell me what's going on before I have to go through measures I don't want to take with you. Tell me the truth." She demanded, her face set in a grim expression.

Caroline bit her lip before she hesitantly came clean. "You're right. I'm not from here, but not in the way you might think of it."

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"Honestly? Are you really that daft?!" Magdalena snapped as they headed to Adelaide.

"Don't blame me for the situation! It's no one's fault!" Charlene barked back at the other witch, following at a brisk pace to keep up.

"I'm so sick of this. I'm sick of vampires. I'm sick of werewolves. And now these stupid hybrids running about. It's all shot to hell!" Magdalena shouted as her temper became harder and harder to curb.

Charlene glared holes at Maggie's back ready to send a bit of a hex spell just to piss her off even more for her leisure. She didn't know how much it would be before she would explode with Maggie droning and complaining. She needs to deal with it.

"Well, I suggest that you calm down before Adelaide hears you. She certainly doesn't have the time to deal with your temper. Just like I am right now." Charlene warned, not energized to deal with two witches arguing this early in the morning.

They came to Adelaide's cabin on the train noticing the inscriptions above the door threshold. Adelaide had warded off any vampire or werewolf within the outside of it except for the girls. Maggie opened the door almost slamming it in Char's face. Adelaide rose from her seat taking note of Maggie's unpleasant behavior. Maggie was lucid.

"There better be a good explanation for what's going on." Maggie said angry about the situation.

"Maggie, has it ever occur to you that I don't always have the answers. I had to deal with the situation. What else was I supposed to do?" Adele questioned the younger witch, her voice tired and with worry.

"You weren't supposed to make a deal with the devil!" Magdalena hissed. Witches weren't supposed to lower themselves to a vampire or any werewolf's standards. They were better than them in Maggie's view.

"I did what I had to do." Adelaide argued as she reared up frustration. "So, stop being so childish for once and be quiet!"

"BOTH OF YOU, STOP!" Charlene screamed. Her body shook trembling with emotions hard to contain. All of them had little sleep since that night, and arguing wasn't going to change anything. Both of the arguing witches relented forever sorry for upsetting Charlene. Caroline got up from her seat, and placed a hand on Charlene's shoulder hoping that would help somewhat.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stand it when you two argue. I just hate fighting. Period." Charlene apologized tiredly, running a hand through her hair. She was surprised to see a woman sleeping in one of the seats still not woken up from the hot and loud words spoken between them.

"Who is she?" Charlene asked pointing to the brunette.

"It's the werewolf that Caroline dealt with. She's of Klaus. We had to take her aboard." Adelaide explained curtly not wanting to say anymore about it. It was enough.

But, Caroline caught the longing look in Adelaide's face. That same regretful gaze when Caroline listened to Adelaide speaks of that family she spoke of. Putting two and two together, she took an educated guess. "She's the one, isn't she?"

Confusion settled in everyone else's faces except for Adelaide's who looked away from the girls. "What are you talking about?"

Caroline ignored Maggie and kept going to Adele. "She was whom you spoke of about the other day. You told me. She's the daughter of the family you worked for."

The other witches turned to their teacher as they waited for her to respond. Charlene didn't have as much trouble comprehending as Maggie did. Her teacher? Werewolves? No way, it couldn't be. No way.

Her breath hitched as she backed away from Adelaide as if someone replaced the woman she knew. Her head lurched forward with her hair curtaining her face hiding her shock of the truth.

"No. It isn't true." She said in denial.

Adelaide bowed her head. "I'm afraid it is true." She corrected her.

"I…I don't even know you anymore." Maggie swiftly turned around walking away from them slamming the door behind her on the way out.

"Maggie!" Charlene called running after her, but to no avail. The other witch didn't reply.

"Leave her be, Char. I'm going to have to explain it to her soon enough." She placated the blonde witch.

"Who is she, though?" Caroline wondered watching Adelaide make her way to the werewolf. Caroline saw the motherly gaze that she held often to her and the girls, but this was a whole new level. She brushed back the brunette's short hair that had fallen in her face.

Adelaide answered in a soft voice, "Her name is Jean. She was under my charge. I guess you can say that I practically raised her."

**{Louder Than Thunder} **

_Past - 1910_

"Time travel? You're kidding." Adelaide muttered astounded. This really complicates things. Big time. "You did say you traveled through time, right?" She asked again still can't believe that this happened.

"I'm not lying." Caroline repeated.

Charlene had trouble processing all of this information. First the secret of Adelaide's past, now the prospect of even time travel even existing. She didn't expect her morning to start like this.

"Adelaide, do you know anything about this?" Charlene's voice inquired, etched in confusion.

Adelaide slumped into one of the rows of chairs. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her hand, heavily sighing to herself.

"Unfortunately, I do," She answered in a mournful tone. It was like the mood in the room was grimmer than a graveyard.

"So, it's possible to do a spell like that?"

"Yes, but with a high price. And for good reason. It's very dark. It's also forbidden. The only ones capable of doing spells of that magnitude are spirits of dead witches," She explained plainly waiting for the words to sink in. Thank God, she had used a privacy spell before she came in here.

Caroline's eyes widened. So, that's how she got here. The Spirits had sent her back in time. Oh, she was in serious shit now.

Charlene's face expression turned disappointed. "Care, did you lie to me?"

Caroline didn't know what to say. She only came up with a blank face.

"She didn't, Char. She had good reason to withhold that kind of information. Just think of how Klaus could use this information. He'd be in for a jackpot." Adele clarified. That was the last thing they needed. Klaus having eargasms in greedy information about the future.

"Care, just tell us the truth. Why are you here?" The blonde witch questioned having enough of being kept in the dark. She browsed around the place looking for something to drink. Something very strong. Crap. Nothing. "Adelaide, did you bring any moonshine? I could use some after these many crazy days."

"Child! This is not the time to ask me that. I already allow you to underage drink as it is. If your grandparents ever find out, they would have a heart attack." She scolded Char. She also didn't need a drunken underage witch on her hands either.

"She's right, though. I can't keep this to myself. I can't no longer." The blonde hybrid stated needing to get this off of her chest.

"Just start from the beginning…" Adelaide encouraged her.

Caroline let out a heavy breath before speaking. "I wasn't lying when I said I'm from Mystic Falls. What I didn't say was that I'm not from this time period. I'm from the year, 2011."

"How did you die?" The question was sprung out at Caroline.

A cold chill ran up Caroline's spine. "How did you…?" She couldn't finish the question.

"Time travel requires a sacrifice to be made. That's why it's forbidden. The only magic that uses sacrifices is expression, and time travel is a form of expression. I take it that you died and that's how you came here."

"Yes." Caroline responded to Adelaide.

"What was going on to have made you die?"

Caroline had enough of the questions. "Look! You wanna know? I'll tell you. Thanks to the stupidity of my friends, they're going on some crazy quest for a cure that may or may not work! Another thing, he warned us! He warned us about Silas! And next, I died protecting his psychopath of a brother I felt so stupidly sorry for! Then I gave him…_Dammit!_" She ranted through all of the stuff she had been hiding. It became too much.

A frustrated cry escaped her throat making her lurch forward, her hair falling in front of her face. Charlene sat beside her in Caroline's row, and started to rub her back. Char didn't say anything, but she was sure the silence wasn't good. Adelaide kept running a hand through her hair, her brain wracking on what she would have to do to come up with a plan.

"So, it's come down to this," Adelaide mused. "Son of a bitch. I think I wished that I didn't ask you about this."

"What's going to happen now?" Charlene asked as she tried to comfort her friend.

"That's the thing. Time travel is very tricky. Unstable. That's why only the spirits use it. This is the first time in a long time they've pulled this off. Even a witch like me can't pull such a feat off." Adelaide paused wondering if she should even continue, but she went along with it. "Time travel is very unpredictable. It can happen at any time. There's a more specific reason why it's forbidden."

"Why?" Caroline asked.

"Because each time the spell begins, it's no ordinary sacrifice that's made. Each time the spell is used, the greater the sacrifice. The greater the attachment, the more taxing of the sacrifice it will be."

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"Oh, Adele. I see you've finally calmed down," Klaus commented with his feet propped against the other chair with his infamous smirk present on his face. The Creole witch's eyes darkened at the Original Hybrid. The other one who was present with Adelaide was Caroline, who Adelaide decided was best to stay with her.

"You have no right to call me that. I still have a bone to pick with you." Adelaide rebuttled glaring at him directly. "Now, you and I have some business. Don't you think we should get on to it then?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right." He got up from his chair and sauntered over close to the two ladies.

Adelaide has seen things in her years as a witch, but she had never seen such thick sexual tension between Caroline and Klaus. Klaus may not have spoken directly aloud about his interest in Caroline, but any idiot with eyes can see it. She wondered if anything had transpired between the two hybrids before Caroline had traveled back in time. Oh, just what she needed. Thank God, Jean wasn't involved.

"Where's Kol? You said he wouldn't be harmed. That was part of our agreement." Adelaide stated, reminding him before he could use a loophole to his advantage.

"Remind me again what the terms of our agreement are," he said with the corners of mouth turning into a sadistic smirk.

Adele's poker face was still in place. She remained unfazed by his tricks. "You let me help Jean. Kol remains unharmed and not in a coffin daggered. Jean is free to do what she pleases."

"And here are my terms; you and your students will become my personal witches. Kol stays with me and my family. Jean will remain free within my rules. And, you know the rest." Adelaide knew exactly what he was speaking of. She hated to be the selfish one, but it if meant for her to be able to see Jean again, she'd take it. It was a very fair deal. She couldn't nor wouldn't she back out anyway.

"Now go." Klaus dismissed the elder witch. "Except for Caroline. She stays."

Adelaide became silent as she walked out, but not without looking to Caroline in one last glance. Before they went to meet up with Klaus, Adelaide made Caroline and Charlene swear not to say a word of this to anyone. The less number of people knowing, the better.

Then it was just left with Klaus and Caroline. The past Klaus was different than Caroline had interacted with. Darker. Harder. Tougher. Her mind flooded with endless questions of why she was sent here. It didn't seem to matter. He held her life in his hands. Even as a hybrid, she was still off her game. New rules. New ways to play.

"So, love. I'm sure you've had a couple of rough days. Could I interest you in a drink?" He offered holding a glass of amber liquid in his hand.

"No, thanks. Drinking was what got me into this mess. It's the last thing I need." The last thing she needed was a drink from the most insane Mikaelson of them all. "And don't call me 'love.'"

"You're certainly a feisty one. You've caught my interest. Even more as you speak."

Caroline glared at him disgusted crossing her arms. "Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do than use the fake charm on me? It's pathetic."

Caroline didn't see it coming when a large, calloused hand grabbed hold over her windpipe. He squeezed the trachea, making it almost impossible for Caroline to breathe. His sudden violent effort to make her suffer was evident, his gray blue eyes blazed with anger. "I'm warning you, _love. _If you want to remain alive for the time being, it's best you hold your tongue. I'm not as merciful as you might think of me to be in some other life."

He carelessly dropped her to the ground. She coughed with the precious air coming back to her lungs. Klaus had his own reasons for what he planned. Always a step ahead in his plans. A secret motive to the motive.

"And you know what surprises me?"

"What?" She growled as she struggled to get up from the floor.

"That somehow your blood is calling to me yet I've never met you before. There's only one explanation." Adrenaline pumped through her veins as he treaded closer. He took a knife and quickly sliced his wrist making a quick cut. "By the way, when someone offers you a drink, you're obligated to do them that favor."

"What are you-" She didn't have time to finish her sentence, when he brought her mouth onto his bleeding wrist. Her mouth caught taste of his blood. She kept fighting him to get away, but it proved futile.

"Drink!" He ordered.

Then as she drank, the blood became more appealing. The only time she recalled tasting his blood was when she was saved by Klaus on her birthday. The memory of that came to her full force now sending the memory of the taste. The taste sent her on a high she knew she would probably have a hard time coming down from. The beast inside loved it. It savored the taste of his blood. Her blood kept calling for it.

With finally some will, she wretched herself away from him like he was the plague. Klaus just stared at her in astonishment. Caroline had enough. "You got what you wanted! Leave me alone!"

"I can't, Caroline. Not anymore. I have to congratulate you. You've done it." Klaus's infamous smirk just made Caroline tear out his throat.

"What?!"

"You completed from what I thought to be true. You can't shake it off, sweetheart. Your blood calls to me. Just like mine calls to you. You know what this means? You're mine." He purred cruelly.

No. No. No. No. No.

She saw red. Her eyes darkened to black and gold. Her canines revealed themselves with a furious snarl coming out of her mouth. Onyx veins expanded around her eyes.

She attacked him ready to tear him limb from limb. He became her next target.

_**Swing me these sorrows  
**__**And try delusion for a while  
**__**It's such a beautiful lie  
You've got to lose inhibition  
Romance your ego for a while  
Come on, give it a try**__**  
**_

"_**Illuminated," by Hurts**_


	11. Beautiful Girl

**A/n: MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Hi, lovelies! OMG. You almost got this to 200 reviews! OMG. OMG. OMG. I'm sorry that I'm squealing! I'm just so excited. Holy Crap! **

**Anyway, thank you so much for all of the support! This is dedicated to one of my best friend's, Damon's Charlene! You know why I did this. It's our little secret! Another reason to celebrate is that I converted her to the a Klaroline shipper. Welcome aboard! **

**Just to clear things up, there is a flashback in the first scene with Damon so doesn't get confused. When ever you see past or present with the year on it, it deals with the time travel stuff. Obviously, present deals with the mystic falls gang and others. The past deals with Caroline and her situation. The flashback deal's with Damon's past. I hope this clears things up. **

**Please Review! I love them! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 11: Beautiful Girl

_Present - 2011_

Damon stared at the fireplace letting his mind wander. His doubtful thoughts poisoned his minds. It's snakelike venom paralyzing him at the thoughts of the future. He took a long sip of his bourbon. The bitter aftertaste lingered in his mouth for the remainder of the morning.

Bitter was the perfect word to describe to him inside. It was nothing new. He was always bitter about something, but unlike of his broody, self-hateful younger brother, Damon always vented with a bang. No use of being in misery if you have a good time with it. That was a chunk of his life. And he loved it. The booze, blood, sex, and the women. Oh, how he can drown himself in that forever.

But, he should be happy. He finally got the girl. He won. It was worth it. He's told himself that he was happy to keep him asleep at night, but it only did so much good. Whether he didn't admit it or not, he's changed into something that he is not.

He's not good, and he knows it. The bad boy persona was his trademark. He invented it practically! He fit the stereotype like a glove. Damon often said that he was the bad guy. The villain. He's not a hero. People still don't get it sometimes. Why are people so stupid these days? Especially this generation. He's not another Edward Cullen to sweep a Bella off of someone's feet. He was never a person of giving. He was always for the receiving end. Take. Take. Take.

And he did take. He took Stefan's girl. He won!

Right?

Then why did he feel like he still felt like he was in second place?

Of course, fate always had to throw him a catch. Anything that seems too great for once will always throw a wrench in his plans. Sure, he wasn't in awe for the sugary happy endings, but happiness shouldn't be so far away from him. Why can't he just grasp it and hold onto it for once without it slipping through his fingers?

The sire bond should be nothing, but a load of crap. But, what can Damon say? He's had tough luck all of his life from as a human and as a vampire.

"Damon, glad you're still here." His baby brother spoke as he brought brown plastic bags full of stuff. Groceries, necessities, and blood.

"I'm just peachy. How's your search for Barbie Klaus coming along?" Damon asked finishing the last of the bourbon bottle before tossing it to the fireplace, making the glass break on impact.

As always, Stefan was worried like a paranoid fox on hunting grounds. Damon wondered why he still hung around this small town if it weren't for Elena.

"Thank you so much for the concern. But, we have bigger problems at hand." Stefan replied only making Damon more bored by the minute of his droning.

"Lighten up, Stef. You're such a buzzkill."

"Damon…" Stefan started, but Damon knew a whole lecture was going to come without stopping if Damon didn't have anything to say about it.

"Save it, Stefan. We're screwed. I'm just not down in the dumps about it."

"We need this cure. Why can't you see that?" Stefan asked, stumped about Damon's view on the situation.

"The only reason I'm looking for this stupid cure is because I'm doing it for her. Elena wants it. And I'm going to get it. If you want my opinion, here it is. She's better off without it." Damon lashed out lurking around for another bottle of bourbon before the urge of killing someone became too great.

Stefan stayed silent watching his brother's body language. Both of them knew each other like the back of their own hands. Something else was up with Damon. Deciding not to push it, he dived into more of the important stuff. "Rebekah's not answering her cell. I guess I'm worried about her too much. She can handle herself."

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. He finally got the million dollar question." A sarcastic remark flew out of his mouth with his infamous smirk as the cherry on top.

"Very funny. Look, we need to go over a game plan." Stefan situated himself on the couch ready for Damon to come back from nosing around in the groceries bags.

"May I need to remind you about a few certain obstacles first? One: we have a sadistic murdering psychopath who wants our throats tore out. Two: Klaus has a bitch over there who also wants to use our asses as a chew toy. Three: we are stuck in a cage by a pretty solid barrier spell by another mysterious witch. And four, Shane is rotting in jail nice and tight. Do I need to explain anymore?" Damon had about enough with this whole quest for the cure. It's all everyone talked about these days. Who would want to be cured of being a powerful creature will all the upsides to it?

"Well, Klaus' wolf is out our hands for the time being. The next logical step would be figure out who the witch would be. Got any ideas?"

Damon glared at his brother. It's not like he had all of the answers. "I may have one, but it's pretty far fetched."

"What would that be?" Stefan asked wondering what Damon was talking about.

"We've seen the barrier spell. I've seen it, but someone has to be pretty experienced enough to pull that off. Someone more experienced. Even more experienced than Magicless Judgy." He pointed it out as if it wasn't already obvious.

"Okay, so do you know someone who's a witch that didn't want to smite you?" Stefan found it a little hard for him to believe that there was a witch that could even like, let alone be attracted to Damon Salvatore.

"Stefan, don't you know me? I've seen all sorts of women. They all loved me. Vampires, humans, a little bit of werewolf, and even witches." Damon sometimes wondered what it would take to make Stefan actually smart.

"Are you going to tell me more about this woman you're talking about?" Damon shushed him. "Patience, young grasshopper. Let me just tell you the story."

Stefan rolled his eyes hoping that this was even worth his time. "Okay, start talking."

"It started back in the twenties. I was kind of drifting a bit. No humanity. Still obsessed with the slut-vampire. Then I met her." Damon explained starting the story out.

"Sounds more like a twisted love story if you ask me," Stefan assumed.

"Will you let me finish please?" Damon asked annoyed by the sudden interruptions. Clearing his throat, he resumed where he left off. "Anyway, I met her a long time ago. And what can I say? She threw me a damn curveball."

_Years ago in the 1920's…_

_The Roaring Twenties' definitely lived up to its reputation. Especially, in downtown Chicago. Everywhere it was practically just one big dance party. The real fun though, was breaking the rules of society and letting loose. That was the true addicting thrill. Best part about it, you ask? There's too much going on to notice. Perfect hunting ground for vampires. Especially, for a one certain hot vampire named Damon Salvatore. _

_With his humanity switched off, he let his instincts take over. The vampire and the party animal instincts took control. Women flocked to him like bees to honey. It was all too easy. _

_But, yet here was Damon Salvatore, handsomely, blue-eyed playboy of the vampires, was drowning his sorrows pining over one woman who had screwed him over. How poetic. _

_Damn. _

_He downed his second bottle of bourbon. "Give me another bottle. Same as last time." He told the bartender who was already compelled from the beginning. He downed almost half the glass bottle before taking a breather. _

"_Drowning your sorrows doesn't do much good," A calm, female voice caught into the vampire's hearing. _

"_Mind your own business. I can do what I please." Suddenly, the bottle was levitated out his hands and broke into pieces shattering. A look of disbelief came to his face and then it was replaced by aggravation. He turned around seeing who the usurper who destroyed his favorite drink was. _

"_Like I said, drinking isn't good for you. As often as my friend even says so herself, she can be quite a contradiction." The woman in front of him said as he raked over her appearance. She wasn't overly beautiful, but she was modernly attractive. Her own eyes were a lighter shade of blue than his own. Alice Blue eyes stared back right at him. She had bright hair pulled over to the side. She wore a cream colored dress that enhanced her slight frame with a teasing hem, showing her lean legs. Her darker beige heels made her taller up to 5'5 in height. Her calm attitude almost tranquilized to him to an almost more adjustable frame of mind. _

"_What are you supposed to be? My therapist? You don't fit the role." Damon commented cruelly, planning to make the woman go away, but she didn't budge. _

"_Just think of me as an unbiased stranger you can talk to without someone judging you. Or more or less as an unbiased witch. Is that all right?" She asked in a patient, tentative manner careful not to anger him. She walked up closer to the bar, the sound of her heels clicking behind her as she walked. The nameless witch sat herself beside him unafraid. _

"_Just to warn you, if you're trying to pull some miracle as to make me feel again, it's not going to work." He said stating the obvious. _

"_I know already from the beginning, but I'm letting you know that I'm not moving away until you start talking. Even if that takes me all night." She told him ready for him to talk. And for once in Damon's life, he listened. _

_Back to reality…_

"You talked to a witch you never knew about your problems? I don't believe this. Is this the same Damon I know and sometimes loathe?" Stefan gave Damon an incredulous look.

"As far fetched as if sounds, yes. She was like my free witch doctor slash shrink. I recall a very good looking witch doctor if I remember correctly." And boy, she was attractive back at that time.

"Get to the point, Damon." Stefan said tired of Damon running in circles.

Damon sighed as he continued to finish the story. "Anyway, my _point _is that she's a witch unlike anyone I've seen. She had a power I hadn't seen in a long time. Powers enough to make a spell like the barrier spell work. But, it's just a theory unfortunately. It's impossible for her to be here."

"How come?"

Damon pursed his lips. "She was a free spirit. Never staying in one place too long. I hardly saw her. It was rare. She's probably dead now. It doesn't matter anymore."

"There's more to this than you're letting on, Damon." Stefan said as he listened more to his brother taking in Damon's pause and silence.

"I'm not going to get into details about that. It's my life, Stefan. I'm going to go hunting. Just make sure Elena doesn't stray off. Trouble follows her like a tick to a bloodhound." Damon stated as he went outside and wandered around looking for fresh blood to clear his head.

His thoughts drifted to the witch he had talked about previously before. He recalled what he had left out purposely to Stefan. He wasn't going to tell him all of his inner feelings and stuff. He was the villain. Not some sugary and sappy hero. He can let Stefan have that happy ending.

But, he had to admit that he savored those times he did see her. She wasn't there to bring him back into the light like some missionary on a Lord's mission. She didn't try to change him. Nor did she bark at him for his spewing insults and retorts. In fact, she laughed it off and let it roll off her back. But, what he remembered was the unwavering patience in her calm eyes as he ranted and raved all the through the night and straight on to morning. For once in his vampire life, he felt that in those rare moments, he experienced a certain peace for a change.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

Another useless book. Another dead end. Misery sure loved to keep the witch's company. She scratched through the next book on her notepad that she had listed before with her blue ink pen. Bonnie Bennett searched through any solution possible to restore her magic. But, there was nothing. NOTHING!

She rested her head in her hands trying to keep a cool head. Her brain scrapped for any idea that seemed possible to get her magic back. She'd thought of contacting the spirits, but then the next thing she thought was 'What good would that do?' They would only reject her. For the things she had done, they would have done worse to her. Bonnie shuddered at the thought.

She was an important key to this. Her magic was the key. There had to be more to this puzzle.

Her bedroom door opened showing her father. "Hey."

"What do you want?" Bonnie asked curtly, not really in the mood for talking.

"I just came to check on you." He answered with concern in his eyes.

She scoffed. "A little late for that, don't you think?"

Rudy sighed heavily still trying to get through to his estranged daughter, but he knew that she was stubborn. And after losing her magic, she had even become more introverted not wanting to talk to anyone right now. The town maybe under lockdown, but she was still going to school for the time being. Rudy wasn't the all strict father she made him out to be. He yet to see her even to make contact with her vampire friend, Elena Gilbert, who he still thinks she was unhealthy for his daughter.

"Bonnie, I know I always haven't been the best father, but I'm trying to do my best now. Don't throw something so blindly away." He said walking closer to her. "I'm trying to do what's right."

Bonnie heaved a sigh, too tired to argue with him. If she was going to have any more dent as to her search, there's only one person she knew that could clear any of this up.

"Where's Professor Shane?"

"Still kept in jail for the time being. Why?" Rudy asked concerned.

"I need answers. I'm nothing without my magic." Bonnie pointed out getting up from her bed and browsed through her closet for a change of clothes.

"You mean without your expression." He corrected her.

"This isn't about expression. What made me who I am is gone. You don't know what it feels like to be useless. To be without of something that's a part of you." She exasperated tired from everything. She needed to go. "If you excuse me, I need to change." Bonnie said in a quieter tone.

Rudy contemplated for a moment before making a final decision. He would have to monitor the exchange if anything goes wrong. The professor already proved to be shadier with every outcome that had come to pass.

"Only if you let me drive you." He said leaving the room and closing Bonnie's door to give her privacy.

Small hope grew in her heart at the chance for a solution. This could be her only chance, and she wasn't going to waste it.

Changing out of her yoga pants and t-shirt, she settled for a pair of dark leggings, a light sweater, and converse shoes. She fixed her hair casually got her things. She needed to be ready.

As her father drove her to the police station, the ride was silent with no conversations between them. Bonnie was just fine with silence. Gave her the time to think. As they drove, she did noticed how there were more police officers and cars patrolling the place. Weird.

They got out of the car heading inside the police station. Sheriff Liz Forbes was on her shift as usual, but you could see the exhaustion in her face as she kept trying to bury herself more into her work.

"Hey, Rudy. What can I do for you?" The Sheriff asked the mayor eyeing his daughter warily.

"Bonnie needs to talk to Shane on some matters. Nothing major. Tie up loose ends." He explained to the sheriff hoping that this maybe could close the distance between his daughter and him.

"Why should I do this? We don't need any more dead kids. Your daughter could be next." Sheriff Forbes questioned almost to the point of where she intended on refusing them. There was too much death in this small town. She didn't want another daughter to die on her hands if she had the chance to prevent it.

"Bonnie is without her magic. Shane is locked up tight. Only for a few minutes. That's all she needs." Rudy reasoned with the still grief-stricken sheriff.

Sheriff Forbes hesitated, but she nodded slowly. "It will be monitored. If anything happens, she's pulled out. You understand?"

"Yes." Bonnie answered wasting no haste.

"All right. I'll set everything up. Be careful and be quick." Sheriff Forbes went to set up everything for this personal interrogation.

As Bonnie and her father waited, her father looked at her in concern. "Are you sure about this? You can back out now while you still can."

"I'll be fine. I need to do this. Trust me." Bonnie took deep breaths trying to ease the high trepidation of her racing heart.

The sheriff came back done with her errand. "He's in the interrogation room. Make it quick."

Bonnie nodded to the Sheriff and her father. Taking a slow breath, she walked towards the familiar interrogation room that she had talked the professor the last time before. The former witch saw the guard in front of the door opened it, and with careful steps she stepped through. The professor was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with his hands and feet bounded by metal handcuffs.

"Bonnie," He spoke her name, so shocked to see her in such a state. "What have they done to you?"

"My magic was taken away. What else does it look like?" She angrily replied. This was the only chance to find a way to regain her magic back, and this was no time for pleasantries.

"Have you found out any way to try to regain it back?" What's with the useless questions? She just said her magic was taken away, didn't she? How many times did she have to repeat it?

"No." She said through clenched teeth.

"Maybe that isn't all that bad. You do know about the barrier spell over town, right?" He questioned her.

Bonnie took a double take. "What?"

"There's someone else who can use magic. Maybe even can find a way of getting your power back. She may be still in town."

"Even if there is another witch in town, it doesn't do any good. You said that only a descendant of Qetsiyah can use the spell to open the tomb. Where are we going to find another Bennett witch when we're stuck here?" She seriously doubted the professor's crazy logic at this point. She was at the end of her rope.

"The one who used the barrier spell maybe a Bennett witch. No harm in checking your family tree, huh?" Shane let his words hinting something else totally brewing inside of Bonnie's brain. She was hatching an idea. The power of magic followed through her veins. Maybe it's time to she needed to backtrack.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

It was happening again. Every night she relived it. They came back with a vengeance for the consequences for what she had done. Like she wasn't guilt enough as it was. Even from the dead, it still wasn't enough for them to leave her alone in peace. She was cursed. Of course, that was the price she paid for bathing in their blood.

"Jean…come on, child. Wake up." A familiar motherly voice ended the hellish nightmare. Her eyes opened seeing Adelaide kneeling down to her level of where she slept.

Jean sighed in relief. "It's you. Thank God."

"I'm thankful you're safe," Adelaide agreed. "Do you need to get some more sleep?"

"Not really. It's not like I can sleep anymore, anyway. I'd be lucky if I get just a few hours let alone a couple of days." Jean pulled back the blanket, and stood up in the walkway trying to stretch her sore muscles. The familiar Creole witch stayed close to Jean, monitoring her like a hawk.

"Stop hovering so much. I hate it when you do that." Jean muttered slightly annoyed, but still grateful for Adelaide's concern. She was grateful to see Adelaide again period.

"Same ole' Jean. You hated me watching over you like a mother hen." Adelaide reminisced the few golden memories of the brunette's childhood.

Jean laughed a little bit, but there was no humor in it. Adelaide had suspected this, but not to this much extent. She recalled a livelier and witty girl that she raised since the very night she was born. Seeing her now almost scared her even. Those copper eyes of hers that were once happy had darkened into something else entirely. They held a more haunted look. She was damaged. Not externally either.

"But, you cared about me. It doesn't matter now. You have me again. That's all that matters." Jean reassured her. Jean was about to head to Klaus when Adelaide grabbed her arm.

"What happened that night? What can you tell me?" Adelaide was trying hard to understand what she had missed. She still blamed herself for not being there for Jean. When Jean needed her most, she wasn't there. She wondered if the werewolf blamed her or not.

Jean didn't look back at her. She couldn't look at her in the eye with the sins she committed. Only one other person witnessed it. No one else needed to know the crimes she performed.

"I need to go." She said curtly hoping that the witch got the hint. Adelaide reluctantly let her go. Jean resumed her task heading back to Klaus. Her sensitive hearing picked up heated voices that grew louder the closer she became.

"_I can't, Caroline. Not anymore. I have to congratulate you. You've done it." _

She recognized his voice. The English accent was a dead giveaway. Around in Louisiana, it's a rare occasion for someone from Britain to around that deep in the south. You learn a lot of things along the way once you're on your own. At least in Jean's experience from what she could recollect.

"_What?!"_

She stepped closer to the door, listening in to the conversation. Well, it wasn't a conversation considering all the emotions running high and the intense tone. It wasn't any new news to her. She lived from one heated argument to the next except once her mother left her father; he turned to Jean for the arguments instead. And from inspecting the aggravated snap, the girl speaking in there didn't sound too pleased either. She never did recall the name Caroline, though.

"_You completed from what I thought to be true. You can't shake it off, sweetheart. Your blood calls to me. Just like mine calls to you. You know what this means? You're mine." _

"Dammit, does he always have to drive everyone up the freakin' wall?" She grumbled under her breath. But, hearing a furious snarl broke Jean out of her thoughts. Before she knew it, she kicked the door open and stood in front of Klaus in a defensive stance.

Her fingernails grew sharper into claws, holding the raging blonde girl back from tearing out Klaus's throat. Jean grabbed the girl's shoulders with her claws digging deep into her skin causing blood to creep out of the puncture wounds.

"Stop it." The brunette werewolf told her.

"Get out of my way." The female hybrid stubbornly rebelled struggling against the werewolf's strength.

Jean wouldn't dare admit it, but she found herself exerting more energy trying to hold her back. Seeing those black-gold eyes was like seeing her reflection in a mirror, but there were differences. The vampirism characteristics were not part of Jean's genetic make-up.

This was just fucking fantastic. Just within five minutes of waking up from a werewolf nightmare, she had to play referee to some lovers' spat before it got nasty. Does this even qualify as lovers' spat? No matter. She had more important things to do.

"I said stop it." She said, trying to hold back the instinct reaction her werewolf side demanded to release.

"Let me go!" The blonde girl yelled again.

That was the last straw. The beast inside of Jean reared its ugly head. She went into total bitch mode. Her eyes glowed gold and her own canines came out as well showing the monster that defined her. She wasn't going to lose control of the situation. **She** was the going to be the one to straighten this one out. "I said…STOP IT!"

Jean admitted that the hybrid had a new raw strength as a hybrid, but Jean had experienced with this more. Keeping her distracted, she managed to jab her in the stomach knocking the wind out of the blonde. Still losing her footing, Jean slammed her arm against the other girl's back making her fall to the ground. Breathing hard, she took a step back looking at her handiwork. She heard clapping not too far away making her growl in annoyance.

"Isn't this just convenient? I have to wake up to this first thing in the morning. Klaus do me a favor and keep your wife on a tighter leash." The brunette exasperated.

"I'm not his wife!" The blonde hybrid snapped.

Jean squatted down to the fallen girl's level and shook her head. "Not what I see, sweetie. But, you can keep lying to yourself in denial. It's not like I can't see the whole thick sexual tension vibe between you two. I'm not an idiot."

"Okay, ease up ladies. We don't need to make a mess." Klaus said coming in between the werewolf and the hybrid.

She stood up giving the hybrid the space she needed. Jean rolled her eyes and snorted at Klaus's screwed up play on being referee. "Says the man that makes more messes than me. I know that women tend to get bitchy with you sometimes like Rebekah does. God help us all when she meets this one. But, you must have really pissed her off for me to save your ass unlike how many times you saved mine."

"My name's Caroline for your information." Caroline brushed herself off from the ruckus the werewolf had done a number to her.

"And for your information, don't copy off of me. Being a smartass is my thing." Jean countered back. She winked a copper eye to Caroline, smiling getting the satisfaction of successfully got the girl's reaction.

"Jean…" He said her name in warning with a headache just starting to form any minute now.

"Alright, I'll back off," she appeased to him, "but, you know I'm right." Jean added the last bit. With all the dark doom and gloom lately, she had to try to be her old self in some fashion. She started to head out when Klaus called her name again.

"Jean, will you do me a favor and take Caroline back. I'm sure you lovely ladies will have much to talk about."

"Klaus, I have better things to do than baby-sit some damn pup. Shouldn't this be your job?" Jean asked not wanting to waste her time with trivial errands. She didn't join him just for the hell of it. She had her reasons.

"Ah, but everything is not free, love. You know you're bound to some things for me in the end. You know how it is. I haven't seen you complain." Klaus reiterated reminding them of the pact they made. Among the qualities he saw in her, it was her loyalty. Wherever she placed it, she would keep her word. Maybe that's why he brought her along.

"Okay. Just bring her over when you're done. And don't make me try to clean another mess. I'm rather better making the mess than cleaning it." Jean stated before she glanced at the two 'lovebirds', leaving them to their own devices.

"I should have stayed in Lafayette."

**{Louder Than Thunder} **

"Pup? I'm no puppy. Who does she think she is?" Caroline ranted still aware of Klaus's unwanted presence there. The female hybrid was still livid with him. His laughs didn't make the situation any better.

"What's so funny?" She snapped with her blue eyes glaring.

"Jean is definitely a firecracker. I'm sure you two will get along very interestingly. It will be a fun sight to see." Klaus's cheeky smirk showed off those damn dimples she hated to…she just hated when he does that thing he does. Now this blood bond mate crap was just making things more awkward and more irritating.

"I don't care. I don't want any of this. I just want to-ugh!" She grunted in frustration waving her arms about in the same manner. She went to get out of Klaus's hair when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and gaze into his face.

"And what would that be, love?"

"Stop calling me that! God! I just want to get away from you! Do me a favor for a change and just leave me alone!" Caroline tried to flash away from him, but Klaus bested her. He blocked her way out by backing her against the wall with his arms caging her in.

"Like it or not, you're stuck here. I don't care what you want. Now, we can do this the easy way and get along, or we can do this the hard way. I suggest you think hard. I'm not one for manners. Even toward beautiful ladies like yourself." Klaus's eyes were hard and unrelenting and Caroline was eternally stuck in this game of cat and mouse. His face was close to hers much to her dismay. Dammit, why does he have those damn kissable lips?

"Now, you can go."

He released her slightly pushing her towards the door. Caroline stayed mute, but sent a disgusted evil look to him wishing just to piss him off even further. She left the Original in a huff with her blonde hair whipping behind her. Caroline slammed the door behind her with her newly found strength hoping one of his possessions broke. Judging from hearing the shattering sound just now, Caroline was at least successful with that. She may have lost the battle, but she certainly wasn't going to lose the war.

_**Woke today,  
**__**Another memory passes of you.  
Shades of gray,  
From those three broken words,  
That unfold the truth,  
But, I'll never forget those eyes,  
That beautiful smile.  
I still remember,  
The way you said goodbye  
No matter how hard I try,  
I can't forget about**__**  
**_

_**- "Beautiful Girl," by Broken Iris**_


	12. How You Remind Me

**A/n: Hi, lovelies! Sorry for the long author's note and late update. I'm so ready to write this chapter. 4x18 was brilliant! Katherine was so my favorite character in that episode. Though, as a Klaroline fan, I totally loved the argument between Klaus and Caroline. That was awesome. **

**This is the first edited chapter so far. The other ones will revised soon enough. I have to thank my…should I say it…oh what the heck! My beta and new friend, Eve! Hehehe. **

**I dedicate to this chapter to my two best friends, Sci-fi Christian and Damon's Charlene for helping to get me through this chapter. A huge dedication to xWhisperofDreamsx (Tina) for making my story come to life making an amazing trailer. You are so talented and sweet! I totally loved it! I still cannot stop watching it! You should totally check out her story, Rumor Has It.**

**Anyway, thanks for so much support I'm getting through this story. Please review and tell me what you think. Forgive me if there is any errors. I'm working on someone that may help me out. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or some of the facts I used in this story. **

Chapter 12: How You Remind Me

_Present - 2011_

Coffee had to be the best thing God created. The wonders of what caffeine can do to keep you up all night. It's phenomenal. Looking at the digital clock on his nightstand, the red letters glowed **4:07 am**. Yes, he had been up longer than he ever had before. However, with the situation at hand, he had to hold his ground until things changed. He always had to strategize the moves he made. It was necessary in order to survive the profession he had chosen, however, this was no career to brag about.

Ever since he could remember, hunting was in his blood. He was young when he killed his first vampire. That seemed ages ago, but that didn't matter. Once he made his first kill, every thing changed. Nevertheless, as a hunter you can't just kill at random, there are rules and people to take into consideration. Like any hunter, first there was training that needed to be done. One of the recurring reasons to go into the hunter lifestyle is a tragedy in their lives caused by or involving the supernatural. Typically, a hunter's first kill is a vampire; vampires are a much safer evil to kill and are the leading cause for the transformation into a hunter. Vaughn's first kill was the vampire who tried feeding off his parents in their native home of Scotland. From then on, he was trained, conditioned, to be a hunter.

The motel room he stayed in was enough for now. It was small, but had enough to provide for his basic needs. He didn't attract enough attention that would get him spotted, thankfully. He drank another cup of coffee before focusing back on the research. He didn't have his regular sources, which made getting information difficult; he had to go outside of his usual means, which proved to be a bit costly.

But, there were also new parties involved. They were now rising up. Soon enough, it would be time to balance it out.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

Rebekah still hadn't been found, not that Elena was complaining though. She was rather relieved that the blonde Original had left the Salvatore abode. It slightly relaxed her, despite everything that's happened. Klaus wanted to kill her…again, which seemed normal these days. Someone always had something against her. She wondered often why that was. She didn't do anything wrong.

She got out of Damon's bed the only sound in the room came from her feet padding across the floor to the large closet to change into something suitable. While walking down the grand staircase she could hear Damon in the front, instead of moving to greet him Elena went to the kitchen to fix something for breakfast. She was hungry for blood.

She heard Damon coming back inside. Seeing his face, she already saw his mood wasn't in a high-quality place. Distant and faraway. Choosing something quick, she started to gather the gallon of milk, cereal, and a bowl.

"Hey," she called to him, "do you want something to eat?"

"No." He said curtly.

Elena sighed heavily. Gosh, he was being so difficult. Not that she was surprised about it. Damon had complicated written all over him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elena watched as he slumped in the chair, his mouth was covered in the dried blood from his earlier feeding, thankfully with evidence of the blood bag in his hand; they would not have to deal with a body this morning.

An uneasy silence started to sink between the two of them. It's been like this for a while. Ever since Caroline's death, more distance pushed between them making it hard to come closer again. Being with Damon, she thought that maybe things would become less complicated. Elena knew the risks she was taking, but she thought that she was doing the right thing. No love triangles. No indecisive decisions. She chose him in the end, but Elena couldn't figure out what was wrong. They were supposed to become closer with every hurdle they faced. Not heading farther than they were from the last one.

With her appetite disappearing, she went to sit down with Damon hoping to see that she could get through to him. She had broken through to him under Kol's compulsion.

"Damon, why aren't you being honest with me?" Elena asked, grasping his hand across the table. Damon didn't react, but he didn't pull away. That's when Elena confirmed it. "Say something."

"Have you heard back from Stefan?" Damon changed the subject releasing his hand from her grasp.

"Don't deflect me, Damon. Tell me what's wrong." Elena stayed firm and unyielding to what she wanted. However, what she did not know was that she was pressing something onto Damon until he was going to explode.

He stiffly stood up walking away from his girlfriend trying to get himself to calm down. He hoped she got the message that he didn't want to talk. "Now is not a good time, Elena."

Elena was now at the end of her rope. When is he ever going to be honest with her and not so wishy-washy? Is it really so hard? "When is it ever going to be a good time for you, Damon? How many times do I have to prove to you that I love you? You're enough for me. Don't you get it?"

"Any time for you was always good enough for me. It's always been on my end that I gave it all. _I _loved you. _I _wanted you. _I _have proven to you a million times how I feel. I've always been honest with you. What more do you want from me?" Damon replied, tired of going in circles with this argument that Elena refused to leave alone.

"I want you to stop thinking that you lost the fight. To stop thinking that I don't love you. I want you to stop confusing my feelings for you and to stop thinking that it's only the sire bond." She answered with fervor in her voice. She loved him. She may not have known at the time, but she knew now. She loved him, and nothing would change.

However, it didn't get through Damon. He kept shaking his head with disbelief evident on his face. "That's the whole point, Elena! The only proof we have in front of us is the sire bond. With this 'sire bond' crap between us, how am I supposed to really know? Excuse me, if I haven't been speaking to you about all of my feelings like you were my therapist!"

"I'm just so tired of trying to get around the walls you keep putting up between us! What happened to honesty? Or is that gone too because of the sire bond?"

"Elena, just drop the subject. I don't need this." Damon had to get out of this before he would do something he would regret. He didn't want to hurt her.

But, Elena didn't want to stop. She pressed on further. Elena's true colors and frustrations began to finally show. "At least Stefan had been honest with me!"

Dead silence.

An audible gasp came from Elena as she covered her mouth with her hand, regretful of what she had spoken of. She didn't see Damon's face. His back was turned to her. However, a bitter laugh escaped from his throat as the darker side of him took over.

"I'm so sorry, Damon. I didn't mean it." Elena pleaded, but her apologies were too late. The deed had already been done. There was no way she could take it back. There was no use in trying.

"No, it's okay. This is just what I needed. After all, I'm nothing like my _honest _little brother." Elena could see the darkness rearing its ugly head. She backed away from him almost tripping in the process. Damon tilted his head in wonder and confusion, but in a mocking "What's the matter? This was what you wanted, isn't it? You wanted me to be _honest. _This is my honest nature. I'm a vampire. Nothing about me will change. _I_ am not going to change."

Elena could feel him teetering on insanity but he didn't care. "I feel sorry for the lost soul that becomes my next victim. Then yet actually, I'm not. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to order some human takeout." The older vampire sped away into the forest in search for some poor human to sink his fangs into as his next meal, leaving his girlfriend behind.

Elena was left alone regretting everything that had just happened. She blamed herself for all of this. It was her fault.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

"It's gotta be around here somewhere." Bonnie said as she rummaged through the piles of boxes in the musty old attic of her late Grams' house.

"I'm not surprised if you can't find it. My mother-in-law horded things like a pack rat." Rudy wasn't comfortable still in this house, although the owner of the house had been dead and gone for a while. All of the witchy vibes were giving him the creeps.

Bonnie ignored her father's plights trying to search through yet another box in the endless sea of them. As she continued searching, she was running out of luck. There had to be something here, anything that her Grams had stashed that could help clear the mystery she was trying to solve. Then when it seemed all hope was lost, she decided to look at one more box before she left. Her olive-green eyes scoured to the last box waiting in the dark gathering dust in the corner.

"Dad, can you hold the flashlight over here?" She indicated the box's location pointing to it with a single finger.

Her father held the light above the box showing its content. She browsed through the endless dusty junk, until something familiar stuck out. Her eyes widened seeing the old familiar book in her hands. "No way…"

"What's wrong, Bonnie?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just- wow. I never thought I would see this again." She held the heavy book in her hands, blowing the years of dust and dirt from the worn hardback. She browsed the old worn and aged pages familiar with the spells and Latin incantations that worked along with them.

"What is that?" Rudy asked not familiar with his daughter's heritage.

"It's Emily's grimoire. It's like a family journal of spells and stuff. Damon stole this a while back. I'm surprised to find it still here." Bonnie clarified. "I think that maybe it. I'm going to check the box one more time. Can you hold this?"

Her father reluctantly grabbed the heavy book, unsure of whether he should be handling such matters. But, this was going to help his daughter so he kept his mouth shut. As he went to the last page of the book curious about it inside, his eyes came upon a sealed envelope taped to the inside of the hard cover addressed to his daughter.

"Bonnie," he spoke catching his daughter's attention.

"What?" Bonnie was puzzled at the sight of an envelope in her father's hand as he held the book.

"It's for you. I found it in here. I didn't open it." Bonnie walked up to her father and took the letter out of his hands. Looking on the front, it had her name addressed, but she recognized that handwriting anywhere.

"It can't be." She tore through the envelope, throwing the useless trash across the room. She opened the piece of paper reading the words on the letter. She let out a shuddering breath as her knees buckled underneath her losing function. She sat on her knees with her thin, dark hair framing her face covering her emotions. Tears pricked her eyes as read her Gram's word almost playing inside of her head like a record.

_**Hey baby,**_

_**If you're reading this, I assume that you've found Emily's grimoire. I snagged this away from that elder Salvatore. Arrogant piece of work he is. As you know, this had been in our family for generations passed down from witch to witch with Bennett blood. Baby, you know everything that I have belongs to you. You are destined for greater things. Don't be afraid to accept help no matter where it comes from. Always be on your guard, but I trust that you can use your own instincts. I will warn you, though. There are even secrets in our family that you don't know about. Through years of secret research, I managed to find out what I need. It might help you to find some answers. Who knows? It's up to you on what you want to do. I'm so proud of who you are. Moreover, I will always love you. **_

_**Sincerely and with love,**_

_**Grams**_

Bonnie dropped the letter out of her hands letting it float down to the ground softly. Her body slightly quivered trying to contain herself. Sensing her distress, her father laid a hand on her shoulder gingerly not sure how to comfort her. "Do you need to go home?"

"No," she said slowly trying to catch her breath, "not yet. There was something else. I didn't finish reading it."

Getting herself together straight, she picked up the letter again and resumed reading her Gram's words.

_**Now, like I told you before. There are secrets in this family that no one else knew until I found it myself. It took a lot of time and effort, but I did it. Nevertheless, you know if anyone found this letter knowing that there is a secret location, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. To help you out, I gave you a riddle only you would figure out. Think on this carefully. **_

…_**To find something unknown by blood  
You have to look into the captured past  
Of one who was lost, but never found  
Once you found your answer that lies there  
Beneath the past it goes reminiscence  
And the answer will be revealed…**_

The riddle marched through her brain as she concentrated on figuring out the answer. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear her father taking the letter from her as he read it himself. "I still don't know how you can figure this out. If my memory serves me right, you're grandmother was one tough cookie."

Captured past…reminiscence…Memories!

That's it!

"I got it." She said with a snap of her fingers. Dragging her father's hand, she urgently quickened her pace to try to get out of the attic. "Come on! We have to go!"

"Let me at least get the book. It's heavy as it is." Bonnie rolled her eyes before she hurried down the ladder to get down into the living room of the old house. In a part of the room, there was an old wooden trunk. She remembered the old trunk having all of the warm blankets on those cold winter nights she spent having sleepovers with Elena and Caroline. Times have changed since those days.

Bonnie took the hand-sewn blankets out into a neat pile away, revealing sets of photo albums from her family. Then removing those, her eyes feasted to what could be the key to all of her questions. Several older leather-bound journals were hidden under the photo albums. It made sense now. Grabbing the first journal, she opened the clasp that kept the journal closed. Turning to the first page, there was a name written in the corner of the page.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

Three weeks passed since their journey to escape New Orleans. Out in the countryside, you hear less of the man-made, and more of nature. Everyone has their preferences of where they want to live. Klaus never told Jean why he chose this plantation of all places to hide out. She came to her own conclusion when she first saw the place. (Just to make it clear, she had been here once before.) Klaus always had expensive taste as much of an artistic one. Seeing the plantation, it was like stepping into another world. To put it lightly, it was like stepping into a painting.

Everywhere Jean's eyes landed on, there was endless color and life. Plants of many varieties lived and continued to grow despite the harsh chill of winter. Seeing this was somewhat ironic, seeing the kind of man Klaus is deep inside. The plantation stood tall, majestically, with stone and wood as its handiwork. As a daughter of a historian, Jean easily distinguished the Spanish and French influences in the architecture.

She was caught up in the phenomenal wonders of the property when-

"Jeannette Delilah!" Adelaide's voice rang out from the house. Jean instinctively cringed at the use of her first and middle name with such a tone that hung in the witch's speech. Even from when she was a young girl, any time someone called her name like that, she knew that she was in trouble.

"What did I do now?" She asked to herself, looking up at the crisp blue sky. She chuckled seeing Adelaide marching her way over to Jean furious. The witch made her way to the werewolf, her eyes flashing in anger with her hands on her hips.

"You've got some explaining to do." The witch reminded her, which Jean just shrugged off.

"I'm sure whatever I did wrong, I can make it right. What's wrong?" Jean was sure of where Adelaide's scolding was going to come from. She could smell the musk of whiskey on the Creole witch. Adele had been searching through her stuff.

"Jean!" Her name was called before Adelaide could finish what she had to say.

"I can't exactly say I've been saved by the bell, but this was good enough for me." A small teasing smile plastered on her face as she got away from Adelaide's motherly nagging.

"One day that girl will be the death of me…" Adelaide said, still looking out for Jean ever since that girl could walk and talk. She looked up to second story windows, seeing Maggie staring back at her watching the interaction between the witch and werewolf. The bitter stare was enough to show Adelaide of how displeased the young witch was. Adelaide didn't blame her.

Sighing heavily, she made her way back inside. Adelaide could only dream of a simpler situation.

Meanwhile, Jean sped over to Charlene and Caroline as they sat under the old willow tree in the backyard filled with acres of land. Leaning casually against the think tree, she asked, "Whatcha doing?"

"Just talking," Charlene replied carefully.

Jean laughed and slapped the witch lightly on her back. "Don't be so jumpy. I can smell fear you know. And, I'm not trying to scare you either. I'm just being literal. Lighten up. I can be one of the funniest people you would ever meet."

"Oh, really?" Caroline wondered if this was truly the same wolf she had fought back in New Orleans.

"Look," Jean started, "I'm not here to start trouble. Adelaide is already breathing down my neck, and I've only been back with her for a couple of weeks. She probably knows one of my problems already."

"Adelaide was always the motherly type," Charlene said in agreement.

Jean looked at the witch in surprise. She sat down in between Caroline and Charlene, feeling the cool grass under her. Surprised, but pleasantly asked, "So, you know exactly what I'm talking about?"

"Oh, yeah. Here's a good example. She would never let us have free time unless we finished our chores and finished practicing our spells." Charlene recalled, hearing the witch tending to her and Maggie inside all of her memories.

"Basically, she was like a mother figure to you?" Caroline asked, more interested about the relationship between the witch and the werewolf. She had never heard of any tale of a witch raising a werewolf. Of course, living in a small town in Mystic Falls isolates you from a good portion of things.

Jean shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, she's the closest thing I've had to a mother in my life."

"Where are your real parents?" Charlene's caring concern reined through her actions as she scooted closer to the werewolf, trying to hear the conversation more.

"Dead." Her curt tone should have been enough of a message for the girls to comprehend. Jean's family was a sore issue. She didn't want to dwell on the memory. And she didn't want to talk about them either. Shutting away her negative thoughts, she bounced right up out of her spot, an idea spruced up into her brain that she couldn't pin down.

"Come on," She urged them to follow her.

"Where are we going?" Caroline asked, unsure of what the werewolf was planning.

"Somewhere. It's totally obvious," Jean joked as a sly smile appeared on her face, "Follow me! The last one there is a rotten egg!" Jean zoomed at a fast pace past the two blondes, with her short brown whipping behind her.

Caroline laughed for the first time in weeks. "Oh, no you don't! You're not going to leave me behind again." Ready for round two, Caroline followed suit after Jean and raced after the werewolf.

Charlene was at a loss. Of all the benefits she had as a witch, speed wasn't to her advantage. She was still mortal in that department. "Wait for me! I don't want to be left behind!" At her best human speed, she tracked the girls' footprints on the dirt trail that led to a huge building. It took her a few minutes longer than the other two supernatural females to catch up. Catching her breath, she said, "May I please remind you both that I'm not a werewolf or a vampire? I'm not as fast as you."

"It's not all that bad. I rather have the power to kick ass than be fast. Take full advantage of that. You never know when you might need it." Jean advised to the witch, lightly laughing.

"Just you wait. One day…" Charlene's voice trailed off as her eyes found the place that the girls resided at for the moment. Her mouth gapped in amazement seeing the old, but beautiful wooden stables. The smell of fresh hay and grass permeated through the air.

"Wow…" Charlene said breathless.

"That's the same reaction I had earlier." Caroline stated in agreement, loving the natural feel and beauty of the horse stable.

"Follow me, ya'll. I know this place like the back of my hand." Jean boasted confidently as she walked inside with the girls closely behind her.

The horses came out from their stalls, with their heads sticking above the open part of the doors. There was a whole array of horses ranging in many colors, the colors in between the horses' coats extended from white, gray, black, brown, and many more shades in between.

"Jean, do you have a horse?" Caroline asked, gazing at the beautiful creatures one by one.

Jean nodded happily. "Yup, I sure do. You can have a look if you want."

As they walked closer to Jean, she clicked her tongue a few times calling her horse over. A loud voice was heard coming from the stall. The head of a tall chestnut horse sauntered over to Jean, peering over the opening, and neighing to the young woman. Caroline couldn't help but noticed the taut lean muscles of Jean's steed. Its nice glossy coat was a nice reddish-brown. All four of the horse's legs had black stockings that started from its knees and stopped at its hooves. It had a matching black mane, tail, and muzzle. There was also a white marking on its head that stopped to the middle of its long snout. Taking in the horse's full height, Caroline almost backed away in fear.

"Hey, boy. It's been a while." Jean spoke softy as she hugged the stallion's neck. The horse nickered lovingly in response to her.

"He loves you, what's his name?" Charlene commented, smiling at the cute affection.

"He does, but he's a showoff. His name is Trouble. He and Luce tend to fight each other sometimes." Jean explained as stroked her horse's mane.

"Luce?" Caroline asked in confusion.

"Take a look, but don't get close to him. He's an aggressive one, yeah." Jean warned them, but didn't clarify further than that. Seeing Luce was going to be good enough of an explanation. Jean stayed close to Trouble knowing her horse wouldn't take it kindly to her giving his rival attention.

Caroline and Charlene saw a tall dark, pitch black stallion eating out of a feed trough. He stood not much taller than Trouble, and appeared menacing. The fur was solid black with no hint of light markings; the horse sensed the girls' presence. Not liking strangers, the hostile stallion quickly charged to the gate, hot air exhaling from his nose as he blowed. Both of the girls stood still, wary of angering the horse.

"You said his name is Luce, right?" Char recollected Jean's words from earlier.

"Yup, short for Lucifer. That horse acts like a demon most of the time, I swear. It's no wonder he's Klaus's horse." Jean commented, trying to ease Trouble from agitating the other horse. Trouble stomped his hoof against the ground, getting antsy. Lucifer in reaction, snorted, and neighed lowly in the presence of his rival.

Caroline rolled her eyes and scoffed. Typical. She should've figured that the most volatile and dangerous of horses would belong to Klaus. How could she not forget? The horse suited him considering his cold, black heart.

"I think we should probably get going. Right Caroline?" Charlene gestured back to the entrance with her head. They backed away from mean, black stallion, letting him to go back to finish his meal.

"Good idea." Caroline agreed. Both of them slowly sneaked away towards their exit, but Jean had other ideas.

"Hold on a second! Ya'll are so not going to leave me hanging here. You haven't met the other horses yet. Especially, since they were handpicked for you." Jean stated, coming forward with her hands on her hips. "I'll show you. Char, you go the stall near you. Caroline, you go to the stall next to Trouble."

Each of the girls went over their instructed places, and waited for the horses to come out. For Charlene, a black and white spotted horse approached. Cautiously, she moved forward the spotted horse, stretching her hand out in order for the horse to smell her. Its dark eyes blinked once, then lower its nose, landing inside of the witch's palm. Sniffing the Charlene's scent, she detected no harmful intent from the young girl. Only found slight nervousness within her. The gentle-natured and patient horse softly nickered to Charlene, welcoming her as an introduction. Charlene smiled softly at the beautiful feeling of the velvety soft nose as she rubbed it.

As for Caroline, she approached the stall too, curious as to what her horse looked like. Her eyes widened seeing how intricately beautiful this horse was. It was obvious that it wasn't just any common breed. The horse had a refined, wedge-shaped head, a broad forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and a small muzzle. The horse had very lean and refined muscles, but it wasn't over the top. What made this horse stand out the most particularly was the grayish-almost white fur that glinted in the patches of sunlight through the stalls.

Noticing someone by its gate, the defined horse stopped eating, and came up to the girl studying her. Her eyes were fully erect and forward, indicting an alert and pleasant attitude. The horse studied her with observing eyes. She was odd this one, but, of course, the horse has been around strange presences before so it was nothing new. Detecting no fear or ill will from the girl, it lowered its head trying to nibble on her hair, looking like fresh hay.

"No, don't do that," Caroline reprimanded the horse softly. The horse snorted mockingly.

"I knew she would do that," Jean commented as she came to both of the girls' aid.

"So, both of them are females?" Charlene asked, petting the spotted horse's fur.

"You got that right. The one that you have is Lily May. She's an Appaloosa. That breed was originally from the country of Spain. After a few of the violent exchanges between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indians acquired more of the spotted horses making them more common in this country. Lily is usually patient until someone riles her up," she explained to Charlene before she turned to Caroline, "Now, your horse is a whole new breed of its own. The horse you have is originally from the Middle East. An Arabian. Very intelligent and versatile. You can tell in the characteristics that it's a foreign breed. Her name is Zariya. She's sweet, but is also very stubborn. She likes to play a joke every now and then as she did just now. She loves food too."

"We get to ride them?" Caroline questioned Jean, happily imagining herself riding on a beautiful mare such as Zariya.

"Not without the proper technique and training," Jean clarified in a teasing manner. "Especially when you need the right gear." Jean walked toward a thick wooden door pulling out a key to unlock it and revealed a whole room with nothing but tack and gear situated inside. "So, tell me. Are you girls one of those side-saddle types or are you ready to ride like a real rider?"

Jean's playful smile said it all. Caroline and Charlene were in for one wild ride.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

It was later during in the evening at the plantation, most of the others were already asleep in their respectable rooms. The only ones who stayed awake were Klaus and Jean. As Klaus was occupied with his own errands, the werewolf kept herself busy in the library mulling over her thoughts. Jean had a lot of her mind. Keeping up with Klaus had proven to be harder than she thought at the time of when she joined him.

The atmosphere of old books, knowledge, and silence remained familiar to her. Sometimes she loved being in a library by herself with just her thoughts as company. Silence abounded when she studied or when she was caught up in a good book. Truthfully, she only read books occasionally; words bored her and lost her interest. She was a woman of action. She loved to see the excitement in front of her. She would rather do something more worth her time.

However, a library reminded of her of memories she'd rather not see again. Jean loathed staying in the same room of knowledge with whose company she detested. Just to let you know, she wasn't talking about Klaus either.

As she thought of him, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The glass bottle of whiskey she had been drinking before it broke into sharp pieces; the shards of broken glass sliced into her palm causing blood to ooze from the self-made wound. Her copper-colored eyes squinted in disgust as she noticed the dark stain in the rug.

"Shit, he's going to be pissed off at me now." She cursed lowly under her breath. She was too tired to clean this up.

"I'm not angry, but you have to know that the rug is Persian." Klaus spoke, striding in like the king of the property.

Jean turned around and rolled her eyes. "That doesn't make it much better. I still stained the rug."

"Let the servants clean that mess, there are more important matters to attend to."

The werewolf nodded.

Jean never had a problem with human servants. Though she preferred to do things her own way, she never could voice her rebellion of the ill treatment of the servants growing up, now, she became conscious of the fact that it hardly mattered, she wasn't there anymore. It was over. Besides, Klaus wouldn't take it kindly to her running her mouth about his business. Jean may be a smartass, but she had enough sense of not to bark back this late at night.

"I'm listening," Jean said as she slowly picked out the pieces of bloody glass from her hand. "But, I think I have a good idea why you're here this time of night."

"Then you remember what I asked for earlier." Klaus mentioned. Between the hybrid and the werewolf, both of them agreed to keep the number of people knowing this conversation to a minimum. Jean wasn't surprised that she would have to tell Caroline soon enough, if what he had proposed was correct after all. It was a long shot, but it was still possible.

"Let me see if I have this right. You think that this sort of "bond" that you have with Caroline has something to do with what I think it is?" Jean said flabbergasted at his proposition. She ran a hand through her hair wracking her brain to think. Both of she and Klaus had been conversing between themselves in sparse times, but it was enough to realize that this was not a laughing matter.

"Would it really hurt to look?" Klaus sighed.

She shook her head. "You have to understand, Klaus, what you're saying is very rare, and it has hardly happened before. It's a snowball's in chance in hell." The werewolf's stubbornness and skeptical outlook didn't help the hybrid.

"You know what I want you to do." He told her. Both of them knew exactly what the extent of their partnership was. She had her own agenda, while he had his mastermind of a plan to bring into fruition. A partnership was formed for each of them to carry out what was required for them.

However, he did admit that there was something in her eyes that night when he first saw her turn. There was something that almost reflected Klaus himself. His evil smirk widened in thought as he remembered seeing the monster inside of Jean pillage and kill her way through her victims. Ostracized by her own family, the beast fed off her anger, resentment, and hatred. Look at who got the better end of the stick after all. Despite their petty claims, she proved it to them in the end; she came out as top dog. She would never be called the underdog again.

"I do what I want, Klaus. I ain't some lapdog. Just understand that, it's nothing against you. You do your part, and I'll do mine." She said with a solemn promise. He watched as she turned away from him, burying herself farther into the books and whiskey.

Looking at her one more time, he left the busy werewolf to the job she had to get done, he left without saying another word to her.

Coming across the foyer, he started walking slowly up the winding, grand staircase. When he came to end of the last step he wondered around aimlessly through the quiet halls of the plantation. Thoughts of a certain blonde hybrid plagued him. Unable to kill the impulse, his feet lead him to Caroline's bedroom door. His hand landed on the doorknob softly, without making a sound, he veered the knob to the other direction peaking in on Caroline's sleeping form. Her pale, golden blonde hair fanned the entire pillow as she slept on her side. Her back was away from the wall, silvery moonlight came through the open window, lighting up her face in an almost white light.

Her breaths were even as she slept. Her undead heartbeat kept its steady rhythm at seventy-two beats per minute.

He sauntered over closer to the edge of the bed. She was truly a desirable entity. More so than he ever met before, but he hated it, he hated having such a weakness. But, does this actually count as a weakness? By what charts or statistics have the backup documentation to classify what encompasses weakness?

The desire to touch her was almost overwhelming. He raised his hand to try to close the distance between them. It was only by a couple of feet. Just to stroke her hair back feeling the soft texture would be enough for him. Just as he was about to succeed, Caroline hummed in her sleep and changed positions, turning her body into Klaus's direction. Afraid of being caught, he let his hand fall down back to his side.

That was far too close for comfort.

Love is a vampire's greatest weakness. And, Klaus certainly was not weak.

_**It's not like you to say sorry  
I was waiting on a different story  
This time I'm mistaken  
For handing you a heart worth breaking  
And I've been wrong, I've been down  
And to the bottom of every bottle  
These five words in my head  
Scream, "Are we having fun yet?" **_

_**- "How You Remind Me," by Avril Lavigne**_


	13. Carnival of Rust

**A/n: Sorry for the wait! Here is another chapter of LTT. I hope you like it. I'm warning you that this is the unbeta'd version. My beta has been having trouble with some stuff so I decided to upload the chapter. I checked over it the best I could. Sorry, if there's anything I missed. Bunch of Klaroline should make it up!**

**After what happened with the Klayley bullshit, I needed to post something. Is it bad that I hate Haley more than Elena? I guess so.**

**Here's a heads up. It's a long chapter so you're going to have to read it slowly with the information you're going to have to process. If any of you are confused, please let me know in a review or send me a message with your questions.**

**HUGE TWIST! BEWARE!**

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.**

Chapter 13: Carnival of Rust

_Present - 2011_

There comes a point in our lives where things are so muddled and gray that you do not know where you stand. Everything would be simpler with all of it just painted black and white, nothing in between. Once you have that kind of mindset, it should be easier.

Ah, but here's another question: do we truly ever get what we truly want?

The answer to that is no, life is difficult and nothing can change that, it comes with its vicissitudes, and all we can do is learn how to roll with it. Damon Salvatore learned that lesson very harshly; it also proved more to that example as he became a vampire. Most people don't know half of what it takes to be a vampire and actually survive the process.

Vampirism now is such a botched up piece of commodity in the fantasy world, which is too humiliating to think about. Back in the day, vampires were portrayed a lot better. Sure, they had their cheesy myths of turning into bats and who were allergic to garlic, but at least they were the classics. Now, people think vampires are all sparkly, gay pixies or whatever the anti-Twilight fans joke about these days. No way in a million years has Damon seen or ever will see a vampire who sparkles in the sun.

What the fuck?

The fact is that vampires are undead immortal beings who survive on the blood of the living. A typical vampire's taste runs on human blood, of course, reports of rarer flavors were noted, though it would take a while to look. Still, reality is harsh, vampires aren't the kind of creature to take lightly onto one's naïve imagination. They're killers. They hunt and prey on the weak, the unspoken motto among was kill or be killed, but that's not always the case.

This is where the gray area truly starts. On one hand, it's true that the most basic nature of a vampire was to hunt for that temporary substitute the insatiable hunger. On the other, there were those who were exceptions to the rule. The ones weren't governed by that hunger in their mind, they had to satisfy it, but they went through other means to do that.

Then there's the part where things get sticky. Finishing the change from a human to a vampire is never an easy process. When completing the transition, the emotions they had felt as a human are heightened in great lengths, sometimes overwhelming if not used to it, depending on which feelings came up results in how strenuous keeping up to the change would be. With the emotions finely tuned, some combinations can be very deadly. Thoughts grow into emotions, emotions grow into actions, actions lead into the aftermath, the aftermath leads to memories, whether they were filled with happiness or regret.

The forest of Mystic Falls was older and more meaningful than most people believed. Thousands upon thousands of memories and emotions were imprinted into the old woods for supernatural and human alike. For Damon Salvatore, it's a whole array of good and bad, but sometimes it seems mostly bad. Not that he even cared now, he had matters that are more important currently. Like eating his breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast…

"What are you doing? Stop this! Stop-" His pleas went unanswered as Damon sunk his fangs into the male's neck. The succulent taste of blood was the only thing that he thought about. It was time for a change, it was a good change to be back to his normal self. He was a vampire. People might as well get over it.

"Got room for one more?" His hearing picked up a female voice, a lilt of a southern accent coming through. He shortly stopped drinking from his victim letting the human fall to the ground. He turned around and seeing that the only plausible owner of the voice was the person in front of him. The crunching of dead leaves was heard as she walked around Damon, studying him. The tall brown-haired woman had her arms were crossed on her chest as she watched with bemused eyes as he fed, fan-fucking-tastic, as if he didn't have enough problems with his current girlfriend, to top it off she was a freaking brunette.

"That depends on what you're here for," He replied suggestively, Damon's sadistic charm was making its appearance.

The woman rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Trust me, hotshot. You're not my type anyway, I'm only wondering if you're willing to share the human, every girl needs some blood now and then."

"Be my guest." He extended the invitation to her, shoving the human victim in front of her before he resumed in feeding, he noticed the woman not making her move. "What are you waiting for?"

Her light brown eyes narrowed. "What kind of man is he?"

"What's up with the twenty questions? It's just a human. Free junk food, it's always the best or are you one of those vegetarians?" Damon's patience was running out, he didn't have time for this.

She scrunched up her face in disgust. "Oh, hell no! Gross! My taste isn't that bad. I'm still to this new vampire stuff, but I'm not such an amateur, I know the good stuff when I see it."

"If you must know, I didn't pick some innocent pitiful human. This douche here is an abusive drunkard I picked up in an alley. Let's just say he'll get what he deserves." He explained, indicating to the older male gasping for air on the muddy ground, his eyes flashing between these two unknown creatures.

Damon watched with interest as the woman's face contorted to something expressively wicked. The mischievous smile she had on previously shifted something more demonic, partially revealing her true nature. Dark veins from the corner of her eyes emerged. "Only if you let me do the honors."

"With pleasure." He resumed his drinking, letting his fangs taste the human blood once more. He almost jolted when the woman flashed over to the scrambling victim, taking the delight of tearing into his flesh in full, Damon backed away taking in his fill and watched as the brown-haired woman took her turn.

She had her back to him, but hearing the hissing and muffled screams he could tell she wasn't holding back. In fact, she went full out vampire mode, with acute precision and brutality, her own fangs tore into the alcoholic's neck as she had the victim in an unbreakable hold. Her hand was covering his mouth, the bawling screams and shouts became louder, though it was muffled. This only made the brunette vampire's smirk widened. "So, you're an abuser, huh? That's great for me because you're just my favorite flavor."

She drank his blood as the coppery, metallic taste enticed her taste buds. The thrill of the kill pulsed through her veins furthering her desire to make him suffer.

The brunette let him out of her clutches, only to smash him against a huge oak tree making him gasp in pain. She could smell the reek of alcohol from his clothes only feeding her determination. His back hit the wall with a sickening crack and the bastard couldn't stop the shriek of pain that was wrenched from his throat.

"You know, I hate people like you, no, scratch that. I loathe people like you. You think you own the world like it's indebted to you just because you exist. Well, guess what. You're so damn wrong." She growled, irritated by the man's pathetic wails of pain. Damon observed the torture the other vampire administered as if she had a personal vendetta against the man. She was definitely more powerful than he had anticipated, couldn't be just some amateur newborn vampire.

The poor bastard tried to glare up at her, but the agony in his back increased tenfold as she augmented more for him to suffer. She had experience with suffering and pain, which could only make her an expert of overseeing such a specific delivery. This was actually real, and she made sure this would be the last thing he would remember. And every time he tried to move, his spine would shoot out more spasms of torment.

"W-what do you w-want?" He asked, but she was numb to his supplications.

"Nothing that you can provide me with." With that, she broke the vertebra in the man's spine and neck, affectively ensuring his death. She knew the hollow look of death all too well. She was a killer after all.

Throwing his useless body away from her onto the forest floor, she exhaled loudly. "It's not fun as it used to be."

She wiped the still fresh blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, licking the red liquid as she went.

"I agree with you there, sister." Damon said in agreement. It's more of a hassle these days trying to feed as a vampire, especially now that a whole load of vervain was dumped into Mystic Falls' water supply. "You killed him so it's your job to bury him."

"Oh, don't worry. I brought a shovel just in case." She showed him the proof behind her words as she picked up the wooden handle of the long shovel. Tossing it over her shoulder, she walked up next to the dead body and started digging.

"So, does a pretty, testy thing like you have a name?" Damon asked leaning his shoulder against the tree watching the woman do her dirty work.

She didn't even pause, digging as she replied. "Cut the flirty-questioning crap out and get to the point. I know what you really want to ask me."

"And what would that be?"

Annoyed, she slammed the shovel down into the dirt, and strolled over to the elder vampire almost seeing him eye to eye. "Here's the answer for you. Since you know every vampire in town, why have you never met me? That's what you're trying to figure out."

"You're different for a vampire," Damon stated as he checked her out as she kept digging.

"No shit, Sherlock," she retorted. "But, I know you're not so different as a typical vampire. Then yet again…maybe you're not."

"What doesn't fit is that you know who I am, yet I don't know who the hell you are." Damon explained wanting to get more information.

The other vampire shrugged her shoulders. Typical. "But, I know a lot about you. Just from your body language earlier, I could tell your taking your frustration on the asshole I just killed earlier. Normally, we just compel them to be quiet and forget. Now that we don't have that luxury anymore, you resorted to your natural roots in wanting to drain him."

"You can't read minds little girl, so don't even try to figure me out." Damon was wasting his time chatting on. So what if there was a new vampire in town? It made no difference to him. As he was about to walk away, the vampire sped in front of him blocking his path.

"But, Damon. I already figured a lot about you," she said as she stepped closer, "and I bet you're having girl trouble. What's wrong? Are you grumpy because you're not getting laid?"

Now, she found herself with her own back against the hard wood of the tree. Her slightly tanned skin was centimeters away from getting stinging splinters, the only thing protecting her from that was her red and white plaid shirt that covered her white tank top. It's somewhat funny, what goes around comes around. Playful light brownish-gold eyes stared back at harsh icy-blue ones. She must have hit a sensitive spot of his. "Aww, did I hurt the wittle Salvatore's feelings?" Her southern accent mocked him, talking him down as if he was a small toddler.

Damon broke off a branch as a stake and he held it in front of her heart. "What will stop me from killing you right here?"

"Information." She simply answered. Her eyes held no lies for him to find. "Well, are you going to let me go or not?"

He hesitated for a second, unsure whether to trust her.

"How do I know you're not going to try to get away?" Damon pondered aloud.

The brunette exhaled noisily, blowing air to her bangs. "It's not like I'm gonna pinky swear for you. Now, will you let me go or is this going to get nasty?"

Reluctantly, the elder Salvatore released the brunette from his restraint. She backed away, eager to get out of his bubble. He had been hanging around in hers for too long. Glaring at him a little, she brushed the dirt off her jeans from the scuffle.

"So, whatcha gonna do? Stand there like an idiot?"

"I'm waiting on you, you're taking and wasting my precious time." Damon snorted with his infamous smirk that she wanted to slap off his face.

"Oh, boo hoo. I'm playing my sad little violin," she sneered, tired of him wasting her time. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? You and the Idiots and Company are stuck in the dark in this twisted game of cat and mouse. It's not as if you can wave a magic wand and the plan will come to you on a silver platter. Therefore, maybe if you get a few clues then you can understand more of the game more, get my drift?"

"Come again?" There he went yet again. The other vampire frowned, she face-palmed herself of the sheer stupidity of people. Geez! Is there some mental condition only the people in Mystic Falls can get? They have to be retarded or something.

She groaned a bit, tired of explaining everything around here. "Let me give you a little tip on the food chain around here. You have your first level, which are the humans obviously. The second level would start with the newborn vampires. The people you know who would fit that category would be Caroline and Elena."

Damon's shoulders tensed at the mention of Elena, this was bad. He didn't need another one on his list who maybe after Elena, it always seemed like he had to add more names to that list every day. Still, how did she know about her?

"Why are you so interested in Elena?"

"All I can tell you is that old habits die hard. Besides, word spreads like hellfire in a small town. I would think you would have known by now living as long as you have, and this "Elena" I keep hearing about, she seems dull to me and I haven't even met her. What is she? The next new shit or something? She surely has you and your brother wrapped."

The brunette truly didn't get the whole attraction with the Petrova bloodline. Really. The only thing you'll get from her is her own little twist on the subject topped off with a smartass remark. She didn't give a damn of what everyone else thought.

Her sharp eyes landed on the Salvatore who was boiling underneath the surface.

"Oh," she asked, glowering with an innocent face, "did I hit a nerve?"

But she knew just what she was doing, it was all part of the game.

"Are you just going to keep yapping or are you going to say something worth listening to?" Damon snapped at the female's ramblings.

"I admit, I'm a talker, my bad." she sent a half-apology his way. "Anyway, after the second level you have the upper partakers of the food chain. Of course, there's you and Stefan. Then we have the hunters who can hold their own against us, however, then we have the big baddies of them all. The Originals, which are preceded by the big doom bringer, Silas. I'm sure this is old news for you, am I right?"

"Where does that place you? You seem pretty eager."

"This isn't about me, Damon. What does have you vexed is the wolf that bit you in the ass and the only witch in town who still has her magic. The barrier spell as the proof of that said magic." Bingo. She hit the nail on the head. She smirked to herself as the elder vampire's eyes shown a flicker of surprise.

"You're not the only one who knows then." Damon stated, looking for any sign of dishonesty or weaknesses in her guard, but couldn't find any. She had her emotions under control. The woman had experience under her belt, though the she drove him crazy only after a first meeting.

"I have my ways." She answered vaguely.

"Then what's your point of being here if you don't even want to flirt with me?" Damon asked with one eyebrow raised in curiosity. The brunette fixed her gaze on him, her hands itching just to get an attack in, but she held her ground. No need to cause a scene. It was too early for that, but soon such a time will come.

"My point is that instead of worrying over such trivial issues, focus on what you need to do. This is only the beginning, Damon. It's going to be one hell of a ride. Bye." She gave a little wave with her hand showing a naughty grin, flashing her white teeth. "By the way, here's your last hint. What you need to find is closer than you think. Keep that fresh in your mind." That was the last thing she said before the brunette vampire zoomed away before Damon could have the last word.

"You're not getting away from me." Damon declared, determined not to be outdone. Using his own enhanced speed, he zoomed through the forest trying to scout out for any sign or scent she could have left behind. He couldn't find one footprint or smell anything of her, she was gone before he even tried to start.

Damon didn't know long he stayed out there searching. Realizing he had wasted time, a shout of frustration reverberated through the woods as he punched a hole through the nearest tree. Loud caws of scared crows echoed as they fled from the sudden action.

The elder vampire decided that if he was going to find answers, he needed to find his brother, it was a good place to start from.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

_"Dammit, Caroline! Keep your heels down!"_

_"What did I do wrong? I'm doing everything like you told me to."_

_"Except that! Trust me, it'll help you because not only does it make you more secure, it also stops your foot from being caught in the stirrup. If you don't, the horse is gonna get spooked!"_

_"Whatever you say, Jean."_

_"You tell me that later on when you fall off of Zari's back, and then I can have the privilege of telling you 'I told you so.'"_

_"Oh, shut up!"_

Klaus continued to listen in on the conversation as he watched with amused eyes From afar, he could see all the girls riding on their respective horses. In a way, the horses represented their riders' personalities.

The horse he was least fond of was Trouble. Oh, that infuriating stallion lived up to its namesake well. That bloody horse always got on Lucifer's nerves much to Klaus' annoyance, the only reason he hadn't sent the infuriating mule to the glue factory was the horse belonging to Jean. As long as Jean remained of use to Klaus, she still had sort of free rein to do what she wanted.

His eyes shifted to the dark spotted mare taking its time leisurely walking along with the blonde witch as her rider. He didn't know what compelled him to buy these horses; the Appaloosa was just an unforeseen bonus that had come along in the packaged deal. He had been keeping up with Charlene's progress in her natural trade and he had to admit that he's pleased, which did not happen very often.

And not often did he see the smile on Caroline's face. A smile that was never for him, all that she gave him was a scowl or a frown. It may not have been much, but he couldn't deny the radiant beauty of that smile and the laughter as she rode without care on the magnificent almost-white Arabian mare. Her blonde hair flying wild in the wind as she rode-

"Hello brother." Kol stole his attention. "I see you're rather occupied."

"Go find a mirror to keep yourself company, I'm busy." Klaus snapped.

"You're spying on the girls, honestly, I don't understand what you see in that little blonde distraction anyway." Another female voice added to the conversation. Klaus didn't even have to turn around fully knowing that his sister was there.

"Don't make assumptions of things you don't understand." He concentrated his sights on the girls again with his primary focus on Caroline. Whether Caroline liked it or not, nothing escaped Klaus's eyes.

"Essentially what they're saying is that you're busy stalking a certain blonde hybrid." Adelaide explained striding over to the three Originals making sure unnecessary blood was not spilled.

As long as she had lived and dealt with the Originals, Kol was the one who she had socialized with the most. To be honest, she rather would take her chances with Kol than with the other siblings. Niklaus was a reason enough not to trifle in his affairs, but she was adamant to look after those she had given shelter too, even if that meant dealing with the ever trying Kol. The Creole witch only had a few encounters with Rebekah, but she knew enough of how much danger she can pose. Anyone with the last name of Mikaelson was the definition of 'danger' in the dictionary.

A cheeky leer spread on his face as he turned around facing the others. "Ah, the mother lioness looking after after young, how touching."

Adelaide narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, but didn't say a word. She cared for them, it wasn't a secret, but it wasn't good to underestimate her because of her motherly heart; with a strong backbone and mind, she was a woman to be reckoned with. Adele didn't give into fear easily.

"Be careful of what words you speak of, Niklaus. There is truth behind them if you want to see it in action."

"How are your witches coming along?" Klaus asked.

Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "It's taking time, but they're getting better at their own pace. It's the best route for them to take with their magic."

"Surely your witches could progress a little bit faster? Time is of the essence." Impatience was evident in his face, but Adelaide didn't care for the childish and harsh haste that sprouted in him. She understood why he didn't like to waste time, but the best things come to those who wait. However, it would be forever before the elder hybrid grasped that concept. He was lucky she still hadn't incinerated him when she had the chance, the appeal of Klaus learning a lesson proved to be a very enticing one.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, Niklaus. You know perfectly well what the situation is and how high the stakes are, I'm not taking any risks that would harm them. The girls, including Jean and Caroline, are my highest priority."

"But what about me? Don't I count?" Kol asked mocking the hurt in his face.

Adelaide shook her head and scoffed. "Excuse me for not showing any sympathy, but I'm out of that for right now. The little incident you caused to get the others caught in the fray is still fresh on my brain."

It was true, a hex bag for each of them was the best shot they had of eluding the beast successfully. Nevertheless, due to Kol's carelessness, that was shot to hell with Klaus winning as the result.

"That hurts, darling I always thought you loved me."

"I merely tolerate you, Kol. You're lucky that you're even alive or otherwise you'd be stuck in a box with a dagger in your heart. Am I wrong?" Adelaide cast a sideways glance to Klaus and Rebekah seeing the intended looks of their faces.

"She's right, Kol. You should be thanking her for the favor. Nik wouldn't give you such a luxury." Rebekah said in agreement with Adelaide, which was a first. Vampires and witches never got along.

"Can we not dwell on that subject? What's done is done."

"Little brother, are you embarrassed? Do speak up if we're hurting your feelings." Klaus ridiculed his younger brother, taking in of the enjoyment.

"Very funny," Kol piped in sarcasm. "Is all that we do in this family is mock and scorn each other?"

"Only reason worth living for" Rebekah snorted with a smirk on her face.

"Frankly, I'm the only one here who doesn't care." It's the last thing Adelaide wanted to be a part of, their never-ending arguments.

"If you excuse me, I have important business to take care of. My day is too busy as it is. Adelaide…" He called before Klaus decided to leave the premises, but not without looking at Caroline out of the corner of his eye one more time. That didn't slip past the other two siblings and the witch whose eyes were sharp. Adelaide followed him knowing what he had in mind to speak with her about.

"What do you think our brother is planning now?" Kol asked, his curiosity present.

"Is that even a relevant question? It's obvious, Kol. Knowing our brother, it's something that neither of us is going to see coming, and I don't know if either of us is going to want to find out." Rebekah blatantly pointed out. But she didn't voice her pressing concern for her brother's way of thinking, with this new blonde hybrid running about catching her brother's attention, she was either going to be the best or the worst thing for him.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

"Well, I'll be damned. So it does exist." Jean mused as she slumped into her chair in shock.

Exhausted, she took another swig of her favorite whiskey, Jack Daniels, though she would prefer to drink shots, she certainly didn't complain drinking from the bottle. It didn't surprise her that she didn't have a low toleration for alcohol, of course, Jean saw the ill effects of her father's alcoholism firsthand, but she didn't give a damn anymore. What's the point?

For many hours, she had scoured through every page of her family's historic volumes, her brain crammed with more knowledge than she had ever anticipated. Her skills of reading and history paid off brilliantly.

"Might as well tell them now, it's the only plausible explanation." Standing up from her seat, Jean walked away from the library and headed toward the back of the plantation hoping to find Caroline somewhere. There was a certain way to speak such of an extensive truth. she was sure neither Klaus nor Caroline would ready to hear what she had to say.

It didn't take long for the werewolf to find Caroline, Jean caught a glimpse of Adelaide and Caroline speaking on the back porch. Her mind was too occupied with other things rather than her trying to peep in on their conversation, Jean never really opened up about her personal life so she didn't try to spy on them, giving them a common courtesy.

"Jean…" Adelaide addressed her as the witch paused in her conversation.

"I hope you don't mind. I need to talk to Caroline, it's kinda important." Jean said as she waited on them to finish.

Adelaide nodded. "Alright, both of you be careful." The Creole witch gave a second glance to both of the girls before she left to go back inside, tired from the long day.

Once Adelaide left, it was only Jean and Caroline standing outside on the back porch. Jean shifted her feet uncomfortably as her mind came up with a blank, the werewolf never really was like this when it came to socializing. She's usually a natural at it.

"Yes?" Caroline asked.

Jean was thankful that she didn't have to speak first.

"Listen, I'm not one for formalities. It's a waste of time, I just want to say that I was rough on you the other day, I'm sorry for that." Apologizing came a little more difficult sometimes to Jean depending on the situation, she never acted contrite for anything unless she actually truly saw that she was wrong.

"You don't have to, we all have our days." Caroline told her. "I'm not going to make you be sorry. It'd be bad of me if I did. Besides, I'm too tired to deal with drama."

Jean averted her eyes away hearing that statement. She hated being nervous, it made her look feeble and weak, and she was none of that by any means. It still didn't help of what she was going to have to say to Caroline.

"I know what you mean." Jean said in agreement. She sat down on the wooden bench, patting the empty spot beside her. "Sit down with me."

Caroline stood there reluctant to oblige, she stared at the brown-haired woman in confusion, trying to see if this was some sort of trick. Jeanette, Jeanine- Jean, whatever her name was, had already proven to be more than a handful. She, a werewolf, had held her own against Caroline, a new hybrid. That didn't make sense in Caroline's book.

"Fine." Caroline grumbled as she parked herself next to Jean, but at a good distance. "What was the point of you of trying to make conversation with me?"

"The reason why I came was because I need you to understand something. If you're still mad at me about what happened, I get that, trust me, I would've been pissed off too." Jean wouldn't allow anyone to do that to her, she would have kicked the other person to the moon and back before someone would lay a hand on her. She can protect herself.

"How did you win against me though?" Caroline asked now that it seemed to be the appropriate time.

Jean paused for a moment trying to put it the most indistinct way possible, no one else knew about her family, it was unnecessary. "Certain circumstances change you, you have to keep fighting to remain alive or survive somehow. Once that has been rooted into you it's hard to let it go at the right second. It's hard for me to control that, even to admit this is easier said than done."

As a werewolf, an escape from pain wasn't optional. Once you became a werewolf, the deed has already been done. There was no chance of normalcy in life once you turned into a wolf, shouldn't there be more to the curse?

"Okay, let's just say that I get what you're saying. Could you show me more about the werewolf stuff?"

Here was Jean's chance. She smiled briefly seeing that Caroline gave it to her. "Yes, I'll be glad to. It's not going to be easy, but you're tough, that'll be good."

"Let's go then."

Jean led Caroline the way to the library. Opened books lay upon each other creating a mess all over the desk at where Jean worked at. the smell of whiskey pervaded through the air indicating the couple of empty whiskey bottles. Then there was scrambled notes everywhere, some unfinished and scratched out while others had meaningful use to them, she had been working on this all night, and she had finally found the answer.

"I gotta ask this, though. How come Adelaide can't teach me more of the wolf stuff?" She questioned Jean as the werewolf went towards her desk, scouring for something important.

"Because she only knows so much as a witch, and I can tell that you and Klaus aren't close. I was raised in it so it makes me your best option, I can break it down for you to make it easier, at least the wolf aspect of it." Jean explained, her eyes popping when she finally found the book she needed. "Yes!"

Caroline watched as Jean carried a heavy book in her hands; she dropped in onto the table with a distinct slam.

"What is it?"

Jean opened the book revealing the old yellow and brittle papyrus pages filled in with inked written words and pictures that the average person wouldn't understand unless one studied it long enough. "It's the answer we've been looking for."

She semi-glared at Jean. "In English, please."

Jean laughed softly at the hybrid. "I like you, you're funny, it doesn't take much to make me laugh. I think we're going to get along just great."

"So, where are going to start with?" Caroline was eager to begin.

"Actually Caroline, there's one more person who has to hear this too. I know you're not going to like this, so don't hate me for it." Jean gave a rueful glance as she pleaded.

Confusion appeared in the blonde's face features. Jean sighed heavily as she grasped how this situation would escalate.

"Stop stalking from behind the door! It's not like I don't know you're here." The familiar stride in those boots came from outside his hiding spot behind the door. Caroline whirled around spotting Klaus coming towards them.

"You! What's he doing here?" The words dripped like venom from her lips.

Jean rolled her eyes.

"I should've known," she mumbled, Jean knew where the situation was heading if she didn't play referee to their spats yet again, much to her dismay.

"Seriously! What are you trying to pull this time?" Caroline's looks of hatred did no good on Klaus, as they remained ineffective.

Klaus had already predicted her fiery reaction to his presence here. In fact, he found it invigorating in such a way that he hadn't seen in a woman for a long time. "I'm not here for tricks, I'm just as new as you are to this piece of wisdom, Caroline." Her name rolled off his tongue sending unwanted thrills through the new hybrid.

"Okay, now all of y'all are here. We need to get this going, but before we do this, I have whiskey here if anyone needs it." Jean reminded them grabbing a new bottle from under desk.

Caroline nodded. "Where are the glasses?"

"Over there," the werewolf specified pointing out the clear glasses on the other side of the room.

"Is it really wise for you to offer this to us considering you may need it more than we do? I'm sure there have been pressing concerns about you and your addiction to drinking." Klaus asked smugly with no concern in the supposed questions.

Jean smirked and chuckled, opening up the brand new glass bottle. "By the time this is over, y'all are going to need the whiskey more than I will, I already knew that from the beginning."

"I'll take much of what you can offer me." She waited for Jean to pour the amber liquor into the shot glass. Once Caroline's glasses were filled, she downed the shots one after another.

"Shall we get started then?" Klaus asked almost as if he could read Caroline's mind. He gazed back at Caroline, which she responded wordlessly with a glare that could kill.

"Make yourselves comfortable, we may be here for a while." While Jean sat at her desk, Klaus preferred to stand in the corner casually with his renowned leer showing in his face. Caroline stayed as far as she could away from Klaus, by sitting herself down in one the armchairs by the window.

"I'll start from the beginning, with any species, an extensive history comes with it. That includes werewolves, everything has to have an origin." Jean began flipping through the pages of the book she had grabbed from before.

"Obviously, Jean. What relevance does this have to anything we've been looking for?" Klaus inquired monotonously.

"Well, it doesn't exactly say in the Bible, "And on the so-and-so day, God created the werewolves." One of the main things about the werewolves is that it's a curse firsthand. Therefore obviously who's the only one who can use curses: witches?" Caroline effortlessly explained in effort to outwit him.

"Damn," Jean astonished taking a sip of her drink, "you took the words right out of my mouth, I'm impressed."

She wasn't the only one who was. I.e. a certain Original standing in the room.

"Like I said before, everything has an origin. When it comes to werewolves, people know the common facts: werewolves are the most dangerous enemies of vampires, they existed many years before vampires came into existence, and over a thousand years before the Originals were created. Moreover, from Caroline's accurate explanation, that only leaves the witches and werewolves as the two most plausible species to have lived before the vampires. That's where the story really begins." Jean leaned back in her chair with her feet propped up against the desk, the back legs of the wooden chair leaned back lifting the front off the hardwood floor slightly.

"Jean…" Klaus's impatience was evident with no effort at all to hide it all.

"Let me hear her talk, stop being to impatient." Caroline chastised the vampire annoyed with his intolerant behavior, that earned her only more infuriation since Klaus ignored her altogether like a silent statue.

"Anyway, our story here takes place a long way back. It starts simply with a clan, everyone within the clan was like family to one another, practically producing an unwritten code of loyalty for them to follow. The leader of the clan was married to a witch, the two sons who came from the marriage were Gershom and Silas."

Caroline clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle the audible gasp of horror She was lucky no one had heard it or otherwise she'd give herself away, Caroline looked to Klaus to see if he was watching her, but he was paying too much attention to Jean. She tried to focus on more of the story quietly, eager to calm herself down.

"Gershom was the oldest brother of the two. Both of them were human, but his younger brother inherited the witch abilities, when their parents died from old age, Gershom took over as leader with the help of Silas as his second. Soon enough, Silas fell in love with a woman, a human, she was welcomed among the clan. When it came time for both of them to be wedded, his love for her was so strong that he realized that he wanted to be with her forever."

"Oh, isn't that just romantic?" Klaus laughed callously.

"Hey! Don't get mad at me, I'm just explaining from what I could make sense of in those books. Excuse me, if it sounds too sappy for you. I'm not making you listen to this." Jean snapped.

"I was just making a comment, love. Don't put me under fire."

"Maybe that's the problem," Caroline grumbled under her breath.

"Enough bickering! Sheesh, I've had it with you two." Jean said annoyed. She leaned forward in her chair to snatch her whiskey bottle. Deciding to hell with using a glass, she just drank from the bottle. "Now, can I please finish talking without any more interruptions?"

"Continue then…" Klaus gave her permission.

Jean inclined her head and continued to disclose the information. "So, we all know now about Silas falling in love and what not, but this is where it all goes rolling downhill. Since Silas was a witch, he and the help of his best friend, Qetsiyah, who was another witch, created the first immortality spell. When she found out that Silas didn't intend to spend the rest of eternity with her, the phrase of where "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" actually became literal, the other witch in spite killed his lover, disfigured him so no one else would love him, and imprisoned him. She also created a cure for immortality, and left that for Silas so that if he drank it, he would join her on the Other Side, but, he was stubborn so he still remains in sleep refusing to take the cure."

To Caroline, she couldn't help but think about how similar to this was to the tale of Beauty and the Beast. Except this is a rather more evil and twisted version of it.

"Where do the werewolves come in?" Caroline started to get antsy.

"You actually asked at the right time, I was just getting to that," Jean replied. "Thank God my dad was a history nut, if it weren't for all this junk he had kept up with, I wouldn't have been able to explain this all to you."

"Are you going to get at it then?" Klaus cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I am your Royal Highness." she spat with a sarcastic tone. "When Gershom heard the news of his younger brother's imprisonment, he rallied with the other clan members to avenge his brother. The only way Silas would be avenged was with the witch's death, but Qetsiyah wouldn't have any of it, so she cursed them. They came at her like dogs so she made them suffer like dogs, the wolves were their loyal companions until she made them rabid, and they bit their masters. In doing so, it created a completely new species of the supernatural. Werewolves."

Jean paused letting all of her words sink in. Jean's own brain took a while to get used to the enormous load and still be able to function. How many hours and whiskey bottles she went through searching for this?

The sound of cackling from the fire was the only thing that could be heard. Caroline was stunned, seeing how well all the pieces were starting to fit together, it made sense, but one thing didn't add up.

"Why wasn't I given knowledge of such facts?" Klaus nearly shouted, hating to be left out.

"This is where we get more in depth within the werewolf stuff. It even goes back to the way I was raised, you can ask Adelaide, knowledge of witches would only be exclusive to those who are a witch or warlock. Werewolves are very selective of who they want knowing of their history and secrets, no one who was an enemy of a werewolf or not of the same species was permitted of knowing their secrets. To make this clearer, I came across something that should help out." Jean flipped through several pages of the worn book as she skimmed. After a few minutes, she had finally found it. Laying the book wide open on the table for all of them to see, she motioned for Klaus and Caroline to see this for them.

"This," Jean said pointing at the picture, "is a genealogical tree that dates all the way back from the time of Gershom and Silas. There was always a role in the clan or family where that person would keep record of all werewolf history that took place, the reason why I'm able to share this with you now is because my father was the historian in my family."

"You still haven't answered my question. The clock is ticking, love." Klaus repeated.

"A few minutes won't kill you, I think you can manage waiting a little bit longer." Caroline responded firmly.

Jean ignored those two altogether and kept explaining. "Gershom wasn't the only line of werewolves that descended his time through out the years, but his was the most prominent. Skip a couple or rather several generations, and then you will come across something very familiar. This is your answer, Klaus."

Klaus stepped forth leaning over the table to see for himself of what she was speaking about. As he read quickly through the obsolete names, one name struck out from the rest. His name.

Niklaus.

"How? How is this possible?"

Those were the only words that came out of his mouth as he stumbled back alarmed.

Jean sighed. "Surprisingly, Mikael didn't do his dirty work as thorough as he thought, there were only a few survivors left from the massacre around that time, but they moved on further. Though no one else knew the name of Klaus' father, only the werewolves did. No one knows much of him except that he had an affair with the witch, Esther. That's the only knowledge they had of him besides his name, which is Lukas. He was a descendant of Gershom's bloodline as some others were too."

Klaus was fuming. How dare they exclude him from this? His own family secrets, he had every right to be acknowledged! "WHY WASN'T I TOLD ANY OF THIS?"

Both of the girls remained undeterred by his rant. To Caroline, he only seemed like a child throwing a tantrum. For Jean, she was used to the emotional outbursts from growing up and being around Klaus long enough.

"Because werewolves don't accept enemies knowing their secrets, that's just the way they were. You never knew of your heritage until it was too late. When you became a vampire as also with the werewolf gene inside, you became something else too. Werewolves are notorious for keeping out outsiders. They wouldn't accept a hybrid of something that was of their highest enemy, they're some still like that to this day, but I hope that will change in the future."

"What counts as secrets to them?" Caroline asked. It was truly reveling how an entire secret that was supposed to be locked away and here Jean was, just speaking like it was an old scary tale that her parents would speak of at night to get their children into bed faster.

"Anything that deals with a werewolf counts as such, but that's another story for another time. What I'm going to explain to you now is why both of you are here." Jean stated, mentally preparing herself for the truth that would shake them to their core.

She went through her pile of books on the desk again, revealing a smaller book, she flipped through the pages until she came to the right one.

"I'm going to ask this bluntly, do any of you know about blood-sharing?" Jean's eyes shifted back and forth between Klaus and Caroline. Her eyes widened seeing the knowing look in Klaus' face and Caroline avoidance of him.

Son of a bitch.

"It's just what I thought," Jean said to herself.

"What's wrong?" Caroline noticed the werewolf's face of worry, it didn't help the inner turmoil of waiting for her answer. Klaus just stood silent with his infamous smirk just waiting for the dreaded truth that he had come to suspect.

"I'm going to have to explain this, blood sharing doesn't just deal with vampires. Werewolves have their own…mating rituals." As soon as the word "mating" came out of her mouth, Caroline stiffened. No, it couldn't be.

"That's impossible, what does it have to with me and him?" Caroline asked in confusion.

Jean closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with her hand. "There's a specific reason why blood-sharing is intimate and personal, it only happens between two people willingly, but what I'm about to say to you is a result of blood-sharing."

"Spit it out then."

"Maybe this will explain better than I can. I wrote some notes when I was reading these books. I think it's better for you to see yourself." Jean handed Caroline her old notebook. "I had to make separate notes because there was a lot to cover, take your time."

"Am I going to see this anytime soon?" Klaus said as he sauntered over to Caroline to nose over the notes.

"Klaus! One thing at a time!" Jean argued, her patience wearing thin with the matter.

Jean and Klaus's dispute was drowned out as Caroline read Jean's notebook.

_**Blood sharing is considered intimate for a reason, it's a completely new experience. This only happens among the supernatural like us, primarily, it happens if someone is a vampire or has vampire qualities. It doesn't happen with a human and us, it's impossible. It brings out both parties' inner most feelings and…attraction for one another; if there is any to begin with. Depending on the people involved, both of them could exchange blood numerous times and nothing can happen between them, there are three stages before the result comes into play.**_

_**First Stage - At this stage, it's the easiest to withdraw, but it depends. Each case is different. When one offers their blood, and the other party involves drinks from the provider, if there is any mutual attraction between them, those feelings are heightened in small portions.**_

_**Second Stage - This happens when the provider drinks from the receiver instead. This makes it more difficult to pull out if one of the parties involved wants nothing to do with the other. The side effects of the second exchange include magnified feelings, sometimes-empathic vibes of each other's emotions, and greater sexual tension.**_

_**Third Stage - Last and final stage. The receiver has to drink from the provider again. This last exchange seals everything between the two that are involved. Now that both of them have exchanged blood three times, the relationship between the two has increased to the maximum. The pull and call of their blood is strongest among the two. This is called the "blood bond."**_

_**Although it is a bond, the blood bond is not the same as the sire bond. A blood bond is a whole different thing entirely, the sire bond is the link between creator and creation, which is rare too. Creation complies with the direct and indirect orders of the Creator in order to show its loyalty, the blood bond happens between two willing individuals (or in some rare circumstances, forced.) Of how much time they have known each other is irrelevant, but the bond will happen faster if they've known each other for a while, the blood bond deepens the feelings the two people involved.**_

_**However, this isn't easy as it can be assumed. The blood must be drunk on three separate occasions (three separate nights), and once it is done, it cannot be broken unless if one of the two involved dies. Though it's supposed to create stronger feelings, it does not remove hate or fear. This can lead to some passionate and complicated relationships between the drinker and the donator.**_

Blood bond? Those two words echoed in her brain repeatedly. Caroline didn't know what to feel or what to think, she was far from ready to understand this.

No.

This was impossible. Improbable. Inconceivable.

She can't be linked to him, not to that monster.

"Caroline?" Jean beckoned, waving her hand in front of the motionless blonde hybrid, but she stopped in her tracks. Caroline's head was bowed, her face hidden away from their gazed behind the blonde curtain of hair, she was still sitting in the armchair with the notebook in her hands, her uneasy and sweaty palms made the notebook slip from her hands with Klaus effortlessly catching it in his.

"Come on, love. Surely, you're not this quiet," he purred in his Welsh accent.

She didn't look at him, that devil's beautiful blue eyes were the last things she wanted to see. Everything about him went unwanted to her, his looks, charm, personality, everything about him, she abhorred. She despised these inklings of emotions that would bubble up whenever she was around him. Erasing her mind of this reality seemed to be the only bliss she could think of to remedy her situation. Yes, a memory-wipe would do just fine.

Desperate, she bolstered up fleeing the library away from the werewolf and the other hybrid, Caroline made it to her bedroom thankfully before Klaus could get to her. Locking the door frantically, her vision became misty with clear tears burning, she breathed in heavy pants, each mouthful of air becoming more labored. Trembling, Caroline placed a hand over her heart as it pounded inside of her, making her chest ache. She swallowed the hard knot in her throat. Everything became numb all around her, creating more difficulty to navigate herself to make it to the bed.

Yes, rest was the best thing for her. Her steps became more difficult to take, but she managed it well enough, her eyesight became darker with black spots appearing into her gaze. Somehow with a stroke of luck, Caroline was welcomed to the unfeeling dreamless darkness that she desperately claimed, hoping that this would be the end of it tonight.

But, that wouldn't be in Caroline's favor, just when she thought she'd caught a break, fate threw another hindrance in her path for their own amusement. It was only the beginning.

_**It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colors will bleed**_  
_**All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't need**_  
_**I lust for after no disaster can touch, touch us anymore**_  
_**And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before**_

_**- "Carnival of Rust," by Poets of the Fall**_


	14. Rolling In The Deep

**A/n: Hi, y'll! You're in for a special treat for this chapter. This is a DarkKlaroline chapter. This is my first shot at it, so tell me what you think. I hope I didn't fail at it. Oh, and while you're reading this, listen to the violin version of the song title in the chapter played by the PianoGuys on Youtube. This is the version that got me inspired to make this. In addition, the SilasKlaus scene brought influence too. Hehehehehe. I also have a surprise for you at the end of the chapter. **

**There is a slight change in this one. The past is going to show first. Then the present will be next. I think you'll know what I mean once you read it. I am also so pissed off that they killed off Vaughn! Oh, come on! He was my favorite hunter! Geez, I dropped Klaus for him!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or the poem I used. I did tweak it to my own purposes, but I do not own it. Just letting you know. **

Chapter 14: Rolling In The Deep

_Past - 1910_

As she slipped away into greatly needed sleep, Caroline floated into the familiar world that she called her own. Nothing could taint it; it solely remained hers to do, as she will. Relief flowed through her mind making her feel more at ease. Right now, she just wanted the silent darkness to lull her into deeper sleep. However, implanted trepidation and anxiety overshadowed relief when an unwelcome, familiar presence drew closer.

She could sense his presence in her mind. His blood called to her unwillingly through the bond. The comfortable mindless darkness around her developed more brightly into something else as it took shape. Walking still in her dress from before, she wondered slowly trying to find her way through the dark maze. All she saw was the dark forest that towered menacingly over her with thin dark arms seeming to grab her at every turn. The fog settled around her, masking almost everything around her creating the perfect place to hide. Looking up to the starless sky, she searched for any source of light to go by. To add to the already eerie atmosphere, instead of the grey silver moon above her was a dark gold, almost blood red haunting harvest moon.

Blood red. How fitting…

"I know you're there." Caroline chanced it, taking her nightmare head on. There is no way she was going to let him win without a fight. This was her territory, not for him to invade and suck the life out of her like a foreign parasite.

The wait became agonizing. Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days. Days felt like months. Months to years. Before you know it, it seemed that an eternity had flown by and you're waiting in the dark. Somewhere among the mist, Klaus roamed freely as he stalked Caroline as his prey. The bond between them made it all too easy for him to find her. Ensnaring her into his trap drove her further into her will not to fall. She proved before it wouldn't be easy targeting her.

"Hello love…" he whispered behind her neck in the dark.

His words spoken sent goosebumps to grow all along her skin. Large hands snaked their way to her waist, dangerously perching on the edges of her hips. It took all Caroline had not to release a sound as he rested his head on her shoulder and her mind kept screaming at her body not to give into him.

"You're not supposed to be here," she pointed out.

"Brave of you to say those words," he closed the distance between them. "Though it's obvious who has the upper advantage."

Caroline frowned. How long was she able to hold up through this? Never in her life have any of the encounters with Klaus ever drained her so much. The Klaus that she knew to some degree where she was initially from wouldn't have done this. Sure, it still didn't change the sadistic and emotional outer coating everyone saw. Deeper underneath it all, held the small bit of humanity he retained as she witnessed up close and personal.

This had to be over soon. "Does it feel good for you to take full advantage of me or do you have such a need for control that it blinds you?"

Klaus' jaws clenched as his anger boiled. How dare her! The sheer impudence of this trifling wench knew no bounds. His hands became absent from her hips and grabbed her shoulders instead. He crashed Caroline with his bare hands into the upcoming tree, not caring how much damage he caused. Caroline's back was slammed into the back of a tree so hard that some of the wood splintered causing protruding little pricks of wood sting into her back. She gasped for breath, coughing to get more breath into her lungs.

"How _dare_ you? Have you lost your senses? What gives you the right to make remarks as if you _know_ me?" He yelled almost scaring Caroline to death.

"I see what's in front of me," she answered slowly. "It's the truth."

However, he didn't want to hear any truths from her mouth. He didn't tolerate other people exposing his weaknesses as if they knew him. He didn't feel and he didn't care. No little hybrid, no matter how beautiful, was going to subject him to such a level.

"Your truths are obsolete to me, sweetheart. I have no need for them and neither will I let shame chain me down."

"Let me go!" She tried to demand in the most intimidating tone she could muster, but it proved worthless to him. To Klaus, it was just a pathetic plea.

"I don't think so, sweetheart." The supposed to be endearing pet name sounded wrong coming from this Klaus.

Everything was confusing and blurred. Caroline couldn't make sense of from one Klaus to the next. Penetrating through the foggy haze of which Klaus to deal with confused her more ways than one. Many facets of what made Klaus himself meshed, creating a distorted picture of a monster.

"I said…Let. Me. Go!"

Without warning, Caroline slammed her leg to the invading hybrid's abdomen, almost knocking the wind out of him. He staggered back almost She rocketed away from him in quickened haste, impulsively wishing for the finish line of this dream to come for her.

Pushing her legs to their limit, she finally couldn't run no more. The sore muscles protested from the overwork, but the adrenaline pumping in her veins made her numb to such sensations. Her rapidly beating heart went into turbo drive. No matter how hard she tried, there was little to none that slowed it down. Caroline took cover behind one of the massive trees in the forest. She clamped a hand tightly in front of her mouth, blocking the scream that wanted to escape. She held her breath in, afraid that one slight sound would reveal her hiding place. That difficulty increased as his voice haunted her.

"Hide and seek. You picked the worst time to do this. Playing games isn't my sport, Caroline. I'm not a patient man," his voice echoed through the dark landscape. It didn't come from any direction Caroline could pinpoint. He was all around her.

"You really think you can hide from the big, bad wolf? It's brave of you, but a young foolish notion. I will find you, love. I have my ways," his voice resounded again slightly louder each time. A dark, evil laugh followed his words before he spoke again. "I laugh with delight as I lure you with hungry eyes. I know you can't deny this feeling I give you inside."

Caroline shut her eyes and covered her ears from his twisted words, but it was to no avail. His voice broke through the barriers just as clear, even with her ears covered and eyes closed in denial.

"I look at you with a hunter's gaze, willing you to stay. My knowing smile can bring a fierce bite, but you still don't fight."

What? Not fight? Ever since, she met him that's all she ever did. Battle of the fittest between conflicting emotions tore at her insides. He was the root of this insanity. It seemed to have no end to it. Around and around they would go until one of them gave in. She hasn't given in and she refused to.

"I'm up to no good with my wolfish grin. It's seductive and sweet while my eyes take your heartbeat."

Klaus was nearer to her. Her heartbeat raced. She could discern him around her, his presence overpowering Caroline's state of mind.

"You're ready to give in because I take what I want. I'll eat you up, and mine you will be. My voice is bittersweet calling out your name. Sweet Caroline, do not fear me."

However, his words seized a darker meaning. Klaus wanted fear. It was his drug. His heroin. To evoke fear in others was one of his life's purposes and one of his best talents. He had honed and sharpened it into such a weapon; it became second nature to him. Although, there was another appeal he couldn't look away from. Because of his pride, it won't let him back away from a challenge. He furthermore enjoyed winning one. In addition, this would be his greatest one yet. He was so close now. So close to achieve his goal. It was only a matter of time.

"I sing a song that insists your soul to follow. Even if you think its evil, why not embrace the sin? And now…"

His voice trailed off to eerie silence. Caroline turned her head from side to side, seeing if he was anywhere near. For a brief moment, she thought the coast cleared.

Three…

Two…

One…

"I got you right where I want." Large fingers encircled around her windpipe, blocking the air to come into her lungs. "Now tell me this," he asked as the digits enclosed around her throat tighter building pressure, "What is the cause of all the hatred? That shield you cover behind can only help you for so long. You know what they say, there's a fine line between love and hate."

Klaus waited for an answer from Caroline, but the sounds he heard were the strangled and garbled gurgles she emitted. "What's that you're saying, love? I can't hear you."

Caroline's eyes flashed as she strained her voice against the pressure of Klaus' hand around her throat. "…yo…it…you."

"Ah, so I'm the lucky winner. Charmed." Now that he got the answer, he was curious as to why this fiery hatred directed itself at him. Sure, he thrilled over a challenge, but Caroline never ceased adding further to the game. Klaus released her from the chokehold, and Caroline once again attempted to regain her breath. She hovered over placing her hands on her knees with the blonde tresses falling in front of her face. Caroline stayed quiet.

"Tick tock, sweetheart," Klaus goaded her as he cleared his throat. What efforts Caroline tried to pull off in denial, it was futile. He would always find her no matter at the ends of the world. They bonded for life. Only Death's hand could be successful in cutting the link, but other circumstances proved before that anything could happen while you roam around in the supernatural, especially when you're an immortal.

Caroline Forbes experienced many changes coming into a vampire. Those changes would forever mold her into the person she would become in the future. She was proud of herself and she knew who she was. Caroline firmly stood by her principles, and she'd be damned before she let anyone try to ruin that. However, change isn't always necessarily benefiting.

From the very day she met Klaus, he planted the seeds in her something foreign and difficult to understand. The very foundation and stable she always walked upon began to shake underneath her with tremors. Each time grew just a bit bigger than the last one. It always managed to crack her a little bit at a time. Before she could figure it out, each time became more monumental and harder to glue back the seams. Klaus unglued her from the firm earth beneath her feet. A side she never saw was born in her, and it scared her.

That's when it all started to click. Everything that had happened to her. Everything from beginning to the end when he had came into her life. It happened because of him.

_Everything. _

Slowly, Caroline stood up straight with her head still bowed. She raised her face, looking directly into those ocean blues after a storm. A wicked gleam appeared in her eyes. "Oh, did I make you wait too long? Completely my fault. Oh, how I must repent."

"Caroline…" He said her name coldly.

A finger raised, she jabbed it onto Klaus' chest saying, "It's you…it all happened because of you!"

"Enough of this, love." Klaus warned, trying to hold off on his temper.

"No! You listen to me for once! This is my mind you're invading so frankly I can damn well speak when I want to! And for God's sake, stop calling me by _that _name_, _you psychopathic jackass!" She exasperated, her nerves going on fire. "You do things to me that I can't even imagine! You're trying to alter me into something that I- God! You know what?! I don't care anymore. I swear, you may have poisoned me with your dark crap, but you're not going to make me weak. I'm not going to stoop to your level! I don't care about the "blood bond" mumbo jumbo that's between us. After everything, I don't want anything to do with you! You're NEVER going to make me feel anything for you!"

"You tell yourself whatever you need to so you can sleep at night," there was the crueler and harsher infamous smirk Klaus owned. Her feelings on the matter were the least of his problems. "We're in this situation whether you like it or not."

Angry tears built up in her eyes, frustrated. "Didn't you hear anything I just said?! Seriously?! You're impossible!"

"I can't be impossible, Caroline. I exist."

"Jesus, can you just shut up?!" Caroline shouted almost ready to crack. This Klaus was more trouble to deal with than the present Klaus.

"No, and neither will I ever. We are bound to each other, Caroline. Denial is not going to get you anywhere, but if that's the company you keep then it's not my problem. No one is here is going to ease your suffering and I'm not going to be used as a balm. I might as well use some the bond's benefits. Perk up, love. It won't hurt long." The immortal bared his fangs diving straight for Caroline's neck. Sinking his teeth into the soft tissue, the luscious unique taste of her blood consumed him.

Caroline screamed, but no sound came out. As he drank her, her energy seemed to slip away with each passing moment. She fought on with each fighting breath she possessed, but it proved to be difficult, as her will seemed to fail. The nightmare would never end.

"_Caroline, wake up!"_

Jean's voice broke through the dream causing Caroline's eyes to widen open. Tears came streaming down her face as she saw everyone gather to find out what was wrong. Even Rebekah and Kol were curious as well, but she gasped in terror seeing the monster that had been haunting her dreams for real.

"Get away from me! Get away from me!" She screamed, trying to flee away.

"Caroline! Caroline! It's all right. It's me." The werewolf struggled with great difficulty to calm the hysterical girl. Jean was never the one to calm someone. Usually, Jean was the reactive one in the blaze of things, but in the midst of this, she knew that it didn't matter now. Seeing Caroline in such a mess stirred something in her heart, urging her to try to bring some closure between the two.

Not caring of any peering eyes staring, Jean scooted closer to Caroline and brought her arm across Caroline's shoulders bringing the crying female hybrid closer to the werewolf's unexpected embrace. "I'm here, Care. Shh, I'm here."

Caroline didn't care about what was going on. She welcomed the consolation that her old friends neglected to give her. She was stuck here and nothing can change that for now. Caroline sobbed hard with her body shaking and trembling like a leaf. Something familiar and dark festered inside of Jean as her eyes found the guilty party of Caroline's panic-stricken state.

"Adelaide," she said with edgier tone, "take care of Caroline and bring her to Charlene. See if there's anything you can do to help her."

"All right," the Creole witch answered knowing how ugly the situation was going to get. She slowly pried Caroline away from Jean, but surprisingly, Caroline didn't want to go. Adelaide sent her a worried look, but Jean knew what she was doing. She stood up from the bed and stood in front of Caroline grasping her shoulders. Jean recognized that same weary gaze in Caroline. The same fear gnawed at Jean's bones to this day, but Jean learned the hard way to overcome. The only to combat fear was to be strong and take it head on.

"You listen to me, Care. Adelaide will help you. Trust me. It may take a while, but you'll get better at least with her. Go…" Jean insisted shaking Caroline's shoulders just a little bit.

Caroline stayed silent, but slowly nodded to her shocked to see the werewolf coming to her aid. Willingly, she let Adelaide guide her away from the bedroom. She was determined not to let herself give a second fleeting look to Klaus.

The witch hadn't forgotten about the other two Originals who watched what was transpiring, and the last thing they needed was for them to get involved. "Come on, you two. It's very late."

"Excuse me, but since when do I ever listen to you." Rebekah remarked stubbornly, hating the witch bossing her around.

"Don't make me prove to you why, Rebekah. Kol has already been subject to my magic all too many times. You don't need to become the next." Adelaide was too tired to deal with the squabbling. Maybe shooting them with a spell could persuade them. Who knows?

"Come on, sister. We'll hear more about this in the morning. It is rather late." Kol grabbed his sister's arm despite her protests leaving the only two left in the room. Klaus and Jean.

Once the door clicked shut, Jean's anger finally showed itself. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Simple," Klaus said proudly, "we were just getting to know each other."

"Your definition of it was way different from what I could tell. And for you to make Caroline this upset is crossing a line, Klaus. I don't need to explain to you how delicate the situation is." She hated to be the moral one to call him out like a snitch. That was Adelaide's specialty. Jean went where her instincts took her. Jean knew Klaus wasn't a knight in shining armor even with the charm and deadly looks. Everyone, including her, can admit to a darker side that they dwell in.

It's rare nowadays when you become a supernatural creature to retain the most positive part of your humanity. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their inner demons.

"You will not dictate to me on how I act." He warned her of a line she was about to cross.

"Let me refresh you on something, Klaus. Caroline is not like you and me. We're dark and tainted. We don't worry about emotions. The damage around us doesn't matter. You know we don't have many people." Jean remarked slowly working her way to the main point.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Caroline is something different. She has feelings because she retains to her humanity. Livelier than you and I put together. That stunt you pulled left her a pretty bad mark, so unless you want her to hate you for the rest of eternity, you might wanna hold back some." Jean had enough darkness in her life, and she knew that Klaus had his definite share of it. Caroline's light didn't need to be darkened. It was too late for Jean to try to change herself, but she had a chance to prevent Caroline's downfall, even if that meant for Jean to argue against Klaus' ways.

"Know your place, Jean. My patience is not infinite," Klaus said, looking dangerously into Jean's eyes with a warning.

"Mine isn't either, Klaus," Jean growled out as an old resentment began to simmer. Her body began to shake. She clamped her fists tightly with her fingernails making bloody crescents in her palms. No one was going to control her. Not again.

This wasn't missed from Klaus. He knew what a tangled up mess Jean was, but it was fascinating to see how long it would be before she would snap. It wouldn't hurt to give it one more prick.

"I don't know. Maybe you weren't worth it after all. I'm probably just wasting my time." Klaus carefully baited Jean, testing of how she would react.

As soon as those words sprung into the air, they triggered a very dark and raw fury Jean failed to keep inside. The inner havoc clawed through her mind, as everything around her became uncontrollable. Her fingernails extended into razor-sharp points, her jaw gritted showing white teeth, and her eyes flashed yellow, ready to claw and tear at anything.

She lunged at Klaus, but only for him to bring her out of her furious episode. He pinned down her on the floor, but not without Jean putting up a fight. Snarls and growls like the wolf she was, were only what came out of her mouth. She fought and scrapped with him as he tried to pin her down. Since he was the stronger one of the two, he had a better advantage. After much effort, he trapped her with her back against the floor, but she got one last hit in with her claws slashing across his face, leaving five thin bloody lines. In retaliation, he brought his hand across her face, the sound of a slap echoing through the bedroom.

However, that proved useless for the werewolf was still trying anything to attack Klaus, but he knew that he didn't mean what he said. He only provoked her, testing to see if it was still inside of Jean. It proved to him of what he had seen since that night. Klaus also could tell when someone was blind in anger. She wasn't angry with him, but those words were one of the triggers to access that anger. The potential he needed for his plans.

He got what he needed to see. It was still there.

"Jean, calm down." After repeating this a few times, slowly but surely, the werewolf's anger receded in progress. Her nails turned back to normal, her bloody fists unclenched. The blind angry spark in her eyes lessened with the gold fading away back to her normal copper color. Jean panted heavy breaths, cold mist coming from her mouth.

"Dammit…why in…the…hell?" Jean struggled to get herself together after recovering from the episode.

"I have my reasons."

"Like…that helps much." Jean couldn't help but mutter slowly, her breathing to a more normal pace. She almost regained her full strength, but the red imprint of the slap was still their on her face. The injuries she had caused him already healed within minutes. "Let me get up."

Klaus unpinned her, and she pushed herself off the floor. Even standing, Jean refused to speak of her struggle to keep still. She refused to ask for his help. He had done enough for her already.

"Jean…"

"No, Klaus. You don't have to say anything. It's been a long night. I get it. You were seeing if the beast inside of me was still there. Trust me, it's there. It ain't going away and I don't plan to have it go away any time soon. I'm going to check on Caroline one more time. Good night." Jean strolled over to the bedroom door and went out, but not before stopping to have the last say. "Just think about what I said earlier. It's up to you whether you want to do it or not."

With that, she left the room leaving the original hybrid to his thoughts. Klaus understood the point Jean was hinting in between the lines. It's funny in a way. He lived for so long compared to Jean, who had lived for only a measly fraction of his immortal lifetime. She may have a more of an emotional capacity than Klaus, but deep inside there was a similar darkness that kept creeping through the layers of who they were. He played in the game of murder and bloodbath for so many centuries, his name drowned in the ocean of blood. Jean was only a werewolf for only some time, yet she was willing to give Klaus the chance for a piece - even the slight potential of happiness over her own.

It did not matter anyway. This was who Klaus, the one who he was most familiar with. Never in a million years would he forget who he was. He wasn't going to change. He admitted that Jean's bold effort to bring it up was well noted and done, but people need to get it through their heads.

Once again, he wasn't going to change and neither was Klaus willing to try.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

It was a beautiful day outside in Mystic Falls. Blue skies on the horizons never brought a cloud in sight. The plant life gathered more energy and color with verve. More and more of the small songs of birds started to bring morning music with subtle signs of spring coming. The air slowly became less chilly and warmer as the days went by. A small sign it may be, but spring was surely coming at a slow pace.

Elena was grateful for a new change heading their way. Almost a month since Caroline's death, nothing was the same again. The same brightness that shined in Mystic Falls diffused from the once vivid fire to dying embers. Only Caroline had that brightness. No one else could copy or have exactly what Caroline had.

Not all was well in paradise. The rough patch between Elena and Damon brought uneasy tension between them, and she honestly didn't know what to do. Therefore, she decided maybe a day without each other would do them some good.

She drove her Ford Escape up to her old house to pick up a few things to bring back to the Salvatore mansion. As the sighting of her house grew closer in view, nostalgia clambered to her insides. Elena knew that she had to be a better person. A better friend. A better sister. The way things were lately, Elena felt she had neglected to see how the others were. She was thankful Matt was there for Jeremy. From the last time she talked to them via text message, they were just finishing training with the crossbows and other provisions in case Klaus cooked up something new. All of them focused on something else to try to move on past Caroline's passing.

Everyone took Caroline's death badly. All of them affected by it, they couldn't escape the lingering hallow emptiness. Even the ones who said that they never cared were feeling it. There's no point in trying to change it now. What's done was done.

Getting out of her car, Elena headed to the front door of her old house, fiddling with her keys as she went. When she found the right one, she slid the key into the keyhole with it fitting perfectly.

"Elena…" a voice whispered like the wind.

The vampire dropped her keys with a slight jump in fear. Who could be calling her name? It had to be a hallucination. Looking from side to side, she saw no one around the front of the house. Shaking her head, Elena decided she was just hearing things. The grief must have affected her more than she realized. Elena resumed with before and finally got inside of the house. The inside of her house was spotless as if the evidence of Caroline's death had never happened.

Something wasn't right.

"Elena…"

The voice repeated again Elena's name again, surer and more definite. Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked confused.

"That's something you're gonna have to answer for yourself." There it went again. The voice in her head resounded confirming Elena's suspicions. "So, this is the sweet, naïve and innocent Elena I was told about. Hmm, just what I thought. Flat as a board, but it's worse than that."

"Who are you? Why are you in my head?"

"You ask way too many questions, but that's why I'm not here." Elena scoured every possible place of where this person could be hiding. Still, nothing came out. No squeak or creak could be heard even with Elena's vampire hearing.

"And if you look to your left, you will see why you're the reason another Original got burned into a vampire flambé." The scene before Elena's very eyes changed and transformed to the aftermath of the death of Kol Mikaelson. His black charred body laid on the wooden floor covered in soot, ash, and dust. The scent of burned flesh invaded the air making breathing almost impossible with the smell about to suffocate her.

"Oh, God." She gasped covering her nose, shielding her nostrils from the foul stench.

"Don't get squeamish and pathetic on me now. Death is guaranteed whether you're a vampire or not. It seems you're not used to it. God, kids these days." The voice muttered.

"I've only been a vampire for a little while. It's not easy." Elena explained, trying to use excuse herself.

"First lesson in Life 101, life is never easy, and it ain't going to get any easier anytime soon. Get over it."

"You don't know anything about me or about my life!"

"I know enough to see what's going on. Everyone is guilty of dark acts in their life yet you walk around as if you're a holy saint. That's not the way it works," the voice replied. "I was there when I helped to pick up his body and bury him. He wasn't the only one you killed. Think of the others you sent to their graves just for an escape route from your problems. No matter how much you deny it, you still did the dirty deed. You helped in his demise."

Yes, she did kill him, but it was necessary. Others would have done the same for to get the cure.

"Why am I even talking to you like this is a casual conversation? You don't know what I've been through. You never lived my life. You never the problems I am dealing with right now. Besides, you've been hiding this whole time. Come on out. Stop being a coward!"

She felt a shift in the air, and it made her skin crawl. A harsh wind blew through the front door of the house, whipping Elena's hair into her face. Elena watched in scared fascination as her dream changed into a nightmare in front of her eyes. Rumbling of thunder rolled and cracks of lightning lit up the sky. The once blue and cloudless sky altered with dark clouds that flew in with hurricane winds clawing and scratching everything they came across. Rain pounded against the rooftops. The downpour rained down more in volume as the storm brewed further, even causing a few trees to fall down in their wake.

Despite the loud storm that never ceased, the voice came again, still clear as ever. "Who said anything about hiding?"

A howl pierced the sound barrier. Elena's eyes shifted to the sound of the howl, gasping at the center of the cause. She backed up staggering in her steps. There standing in the middle of the road was a familiar creature. A wolf. Its russet pelt was wet from the furious torrent as the wind thrashed against it. The wolf's black claws scraped the ground as it stalked slowly as a predator with the vampire as its target. The lips of the muzzle peeled back showing sharp canine teeth, salivating for blood. Its glowing eyes never strayed from its goal even with the chaos happening around it. It picked up pace from walking, to trotting, and then to a full scale run springing into action.

Elena turned around and ran in the other direction with the wolf in pursuit. Not aware of the environment changing again, the once cozy feels of her old home modified to the damp and wet Lockwood tunnels.

Elena kept running as fast as she could, trying to escape the wolf snapping at her heels. The tunnels seemed endless with no finish line. No way out.

"You have the nerve to call me a coward when your actions prove something else entirely. Bad move to make, Elena. Now, you've really gotten yourself in a bind."

She had a hard time ignoring the voice as everything edged into overdrive. The wolf's pursuit of Elena fell silent. Elena stopped in her tracks and slowly peered behind her back. Nothing was there.

The urgent need to escape took over as she continued to run through the tunnels looking for a way out. Then a resonance of many sounds reverberated off the wet and clammy walls. Wolf howls, snarls, and barks echoed during Elena's trek. Many of the sounds interlocked making them become distorted and harder to discern as Elena heard it all.

"You really think you can actually get away with this? To walk away as if you were innocent?" a dark chuckle emitted throughout the tunnels. "That's not how it works."

"Where are you?!" Elena screamed.

Silence was her only answer. Elena ventured on through the tunnels, trying to do everything possible to get away. The voice picked and picked at her with no mercy.

"Come out, come out. You can't hide from me forever."

As she ran through the dark damp Lockwood tunnels, she had come across the warded area where she had hid from Rebekah before. It was perfect! That ought to do the trick.

"Finally…" she voiced her inner relief, but that relief would prove to be faulty as an invisible wall blocked the entrance.

"No! No! No!" Elena kept banging on it with both of her fists, struggling against the barrier. What was going on? Why couldn't she get in?

"_One, Two. I'm coming for you."_

The brunette vampire spun around in fear, frantically looking everywhere to find the voice. Where in the hell was it? The insanity Elena brought herself into fed the nightmare's terror. She sunk to the ground as she huddled back to the corner of the wall and the barrier until the cold chill of the wall stung against her spine. This manipulated reality was something else entirely. Only one person was capable of twisted thoughts like this, but she hadn't seen him. This was someone else.

"_Three, Four. You better lock your door."_

The temperature dropped making the air more cold and chilly to the bone. Never before had Elena felt so much dread in her life. Not since the problems with Klaus trying to kill her at every turn had come to some sort of stand still.

"_Five, six. Better grab some sticks."_

Terror gripped her heart with icy fingers as the voice came closer within earshot. How much closer could it get to her?

"_Seven, eight. Better evacuate."_

She closed her eyes tight, wrapping her arms around her knees. Elena hid her face into her straight brown hair as a curtain, waiting for the blow to come. It never did though. Everything was eerily silent. No voice. No wolf sounds.

Nothing.

Elena opened her eyes and looked up to see if anyone was around. There wasn't.

Then at the last second…

The quietest whisper came to Elena, right next to her ear.

"_Nine, ten. Never breathe again." _

She could feel hot breath masking her face suffocating her. A raging and bloodcurdling snarl was all that she heard as it came closer. The last thing she saw was a pair of wicked glowing eyes before the monster pounced, coming at her with its jaws.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Present - 2011_

As she lay in her bed, Bonnie set the journal down under her pillow for safekeeping after reading a decent sized portion. The long hours of school, her family, friends, supernatural, and everything under the sun wore Bonnie out. She was just relieved to get a once of sleep from moving from one errand to the next. She managed to get some spare time in reading the hidden journal she had found at her Grams' place.

Grams. Bonnie missed her so much, but she had to rely on herself now to find the right way. Her powers were still unavailable and she had yet to find a clue to how to get them back. Nevertheless, she clung on to her patience as a life raft, knowing that she would get her answer soon enough. Good things come to those who wait.

With the need of sleep overwhelming her every thought, she turned off her lamp on the nightstand beside her bed, waiting for the slumber to take over. However, as Bonnie tried to succumb to the darkness, there was something out of place. An intrusion crept in the corner of her mind.

Keeping her eyes closed, her right hand slowly felt for the aluminum bat that stood beside her bed in case for emergencies. Gathering a good grip, she swung with one hand at an angle as hard as she could; a pair of hands caught it effortlessly.

"Easy, darling. You don't need to ruin a good bat." A cheeky male, English accented voice pierced the darkness.

Trying to ignore the sudden feeling forming in her stomach, she used her free hand to flick on the light to find out who the trespasser was. The lamplight revealed who the unknown male was, but Bonnie figured who it was already.

"Kol." She let out a gasp of surprise seeing the already supposed to be deceased vampire in her bedroom. If Bonnie still had her magic, she would have already sent an aneurism his way. However, there he was standing a foot away from the bed, holding the bat in his hands with no effort at all. "You…you're supposed to be dead."

"I still am, no thanks to your best friend. And for someone who's supposed to be your friend, Elena does a rotten job." He did not attempt to hide the disgust. After all, Elena and Jeremy were the bringers of his demise. Burned him like an Original kabob on a stick.

"This isn't about Elena. Gathering from how you usually are, this visit to my dream wasn't just for you to idly chat with me." The powerless witch let go of the bat seeing that this was only a dream. He couldn't harm her and neither did he look like he intended to inflict it.

Kol inspected the old bat in his hands, taking in the smallest of details. "Small, but just the right size. Sixty centimeters in length. Not a sight of rust on there. Rucanor is a good brand for sports. You've made a smart choice."

"Why are you here? How are you here in my dream?" She demanded to the vampire.

"I can answer your first question, but unfortunately I cannot with the latter." He came closer to Bonnie, setting himself on the edge of the bed until they were within a foot of each other.

"That doesn't help much." Bonnie muttered seeing that this wasn't going anywhere.

He didn't say a thing to reencounter her remark, the ends of Kol's mouth tugged into his boyish grin as he brought a hand to cup her cheek. There was little Bonnie remembered from their lasted dangerous meeting. She wished she had her powers again to strengthen her resolve, but that wasn't in her favor. The Original had an advantage over her. He was the one in control or so it seemed to her. Whether this was just a figment of a dark fantasy she didn't thought to come to be or something he conjured up, it remained the same. This was so out of the ordinary. She closed her eyes leaning into his touch, her mind foggy and tired from the numerous weight piled on one another mentally.

"You still didn't answer my question."

Kol never thought that Bonnie Bennett would be related to- well, that's his secret for now. She would know soon enough. "You never miss a beat, do you?"

She exhaled the breath she was holding and removed his hand from her face. "Just tell me the truth."

Kol sighed almost sadly. "Oh, well. It might put a damper on things, but I can manage."

"Quit beating around the bush and just tell me." Bonnie said losing her patience. She didn't lose her temper often, but she usually came to the point of what she needed to say. It reminded Kol of a certain witch a long time ago.

"I'm here to pull the wool from over your eyes, let's just say. Something that can give you hints on what you're looking for." Kol explained finally after meandering about for so long. As he studied her, he recognized the similarity between-

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Bonnie interrupted his train of thought.

"You remind me of someone. A witch I knew back in New Orleans from a long time ago." The similarity between the two was uncanny. There was always a certain attraction the Bennett witches possessed that reeled Kol in like a fish on a hook. The allure sometimes can be overwhelming.

Bonnie looked at him confused. What in New Orleans had to do with her? She would have asked, but it would be just a waste of time.

"Don't worry about your magic, darling. It's not worth to regain it to bring hell on Earth. Listen to me…" he implored with seriousness that Bonnie found strange in his face. The grim appearance didn't suit him at all.

"You don't understand. I'm asking you now. Do yourself a favor and try not to." Bonnie appreciated the concern, but she knew what she was doing. This was the key of getting her powers back. She will have better control over the expression. She will overcome this.

"Then maybe I should use another means of persuasion." Kol said in a sultry tone.

He silently and slowly closed the distance between him and the witch. Her heart pounded with the sound of blood rushing to her ears. Even she could hear it so loud despite Kol's keen hearing. His lips captured hers in an experimental, but passionate, lust filled kiss. Kol bit her lip lightly and took advantage of her gasp as he slid tongue into her mouth, exploring every inch he could find. A moan escaped her when their tongues danced. He tasted beyond what she had ever tasted. It was unlike anything she experienced in her life.

Alas, her mortal need of breathing demanded on itself causing her to pull away, but that didn't stop Kol from changing the position of his lips to trail his own across her jaw and down her neck causing her to release another pleasurable moan.

"Listen to me…" he whispered against her skin.

"No," she responded.

Everything changed. The caresses and pleasurable kisses vanished. They were replaced by cold, hard touches and excruciating bites.

She opened her eyes to find Klaus instead of where Kol was. He looked up at her and smirked. "I told you I would hunt you down. I am a man of my word."

That was the last thing she heard before she felt his fangs sink into her neck.

_**There's a fire starting in my heart  
Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark  
Finally I can see you crystal clear  
Go 'head and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare  
See how I leave with every piece of you  
Don't underestimate the things that I will do**_

_**- "Rolling In The Deep," by Adele**_


	15. Echo Part I

**A/n: This is beta'd by one of my best friends and the coolest girl in the world, Evie! Thank you so much, hon! Enjoy the better version. I'm gonna have my other beta, Erin, work through this one once she has the other chapters done. Both of my betas are awesome and talented. Thank you so much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 15: Echo Part I

_Present - 2011_

Rebekah's hesitancy reached a new record. Never in her life had she felt so helpless and alone, even now when she was within slightly good graces of her family, the loneliness spoke volumes. Hesitancy never suited Rebekah's character, like the Original vampire, the stubbornness she bore heightened to a high that some cannot begin to describe. Stubbornness always ran rampant through her family. Though, it appeared every now and again more than others.

Her spiked heels clicked on the stone tile as she pranced down the stairs to the basement door. As she came upon the basement location, the Original vampire knocked, she waited a few moments before the click of the lock turned, and the door opened. "Come on in, tired of all the testosterone already?"

"More or less." Rebekah replied. She strode inside of the basement with the witch coming behind her and shutting the door.

"I don't have much to drink in here, but I have some warm chamomile tea if you would like any. It's a fresh batch," the witch offered.

"Sure, I need something to clear my mind." Rebekah's mind was still in process of the inner workings of whatever her family is cooking up now. Gladly accepting the tea, she grasped the dark blue mug with her hands. "Thank you," Rebekah spoke in gratitude.

"You're welcome." the other female provided her a polite smile.

Rebekah had lived for ages as a vampire. Transformed at a young age, that same age frame of mind and way of thinking tend to stick to you. After many twists and turns of betrayal thrown in her face, Rebekah always tried to be prepared any sudden changes. Sure, she was shocked to see her brother welcoming her back to the mansion with water under the bridge; therefore she never admitted, but she was relieved not to be on his bad side. However, nothing prepared her for seeing that familiar face she'd never thought to see again, especially before Niklaus locked her up in box with a dagger in her heart.

Oh, yeah. She was royally pissed off at him at his decision of leaving her out of the loop, Klaus explained to her that she didn't need to be troubled about what he had planned out. On the contrary, that statement alone proved her concern of the turning gears in Klaus' brain. Rebekah tried to coax the answer out of Elijah, but he wouldn't budge either, so she went to another instead.

"How could you be here? After all of these years, you suddenly just show up. Where were you all this time?" Rebekah asked in shock. Who'd thought after so many years that she would see the witch in front of her again?

"I guess that question was going to turn up sooner or later." the witch said to herself, though Rebekah had heard it loud and clear.

"I need some answers. Klaus isn't saying anything and now Elijah too, you need to help me." Rebekah asserted to her, hoping for anything that might shed some light on this, but hearing the heavy sigh from the witch just made the female vampire's doubts for any answers skyrocket.

"Your brother has my hands tied, Rebekah. I can't tell you anything about what he has planned." She explained as she stood in front of her table messing with some herbs and skimming through her grimoire.

"Since when have you ever let Nik give you orders? You're a bloody witch for goodness sake!" The vampire pointed out, not truly aware of the situation.

Her body became rigid as she paused mid-cutting through some important herbs she was trying to use for a healing remedy. Looking directly at the vampire, the witch's eyes hardened. "Because the ones I care about could be in jeopardy, and I'm not going to take that risk if it means for them to be safe. "

Rebekah covered her dissatisfaction with indifference. "Wow, even now you're still no fun. That's pretty bad considering how long it's been since we've argued." That had to be maybe eighty or ninety years ago, give or take. Those times were crazy back then.

"It's true, but for good reasons."

"Still, you shouldn't have to hide anything from me."

"Why would I lie about a matter as serious as this? If it weren't for the situation, I would tell you everything." Oh, how she wanted not to be in this, becoming entangled in Klaus' games wasn't first on her to-do-list.

"Does anyone know you're here?"

"I'm sure there are some smart ones that know that there's a witch in town, but no one interacted with me personally, besides the others in the mansion and now you." The witch winked at Rebekah.

"Is there anything you can tell me that might help?" Rebekah tried once more, maybe there was a chance to get a little tip of information.

"Well, I can tell you this. We didn't expect to be called in so sudden until we heard of the young girl's death. Everyone was keeping a low profile on this sort of vacation, but we kept our heads down until he made the call. Everything was starting to get too calm for our own good, trouble seems to follow after being with Klaus for so long." the witch enlightened the blonde vampire. It was only a matter of time before Klaus had found them a role to play in his lethal match, satisfying his thirst for vengeance.

"But why? Why all the secrecy?"

Secrets were often explosive if not released at the appropriate time, if they were shown in the wrong way, it could ruin someone altogether. Rebekah had enough of the surreptitious thoughts and tactics. She wanted to know the truth.

"Are you sure that you want to ask me that question when you know your brother better than I do?" the witch asked in a incredulous tone. "When a man like Klaus reaches the end of his rope, what does he do? This is a man who strives to always be one step ahead of his enemies. He will always have a dependable failsafe he can rely on, that's us. He made extra sure we wouldn't come out in the open unless he could be sure that we were the last option he had. This is his last die-trying resort before it all comes down, he could win or die, bringing people down with him in the effort. No one would see this coming."

"So what are they going to say when they find out that Charlene Davis is the mysterious, powerful witch who has everyone caught in a trap?" Rebekah posed the question in the air, curious about her reaction.

The blonde witch sighed deeply to herself as she tried to find an answer to the other woman's question. She ran a hand through her hair, unsure of what to say. "I don't know honestly, I'm sure they'll be a whole range of just depends on who finds out."

"Still, everything is so complicated." the blonde vampire commented, wishing for things in her life to be simpler for once.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Charlene agreed.

"Could you give me the recipe?" Rebekah sipped more of the tea. "I could use more of this."

"It's a old recipe that I got from someone way back when. I can't release the secret recipe, but I can always make you some whenever you like." The witch offered instead.

Charlene tried to keep herself busy by talking to Rebekah, knowing what was transpiring upstairs.

But today wasn't in her favor when a sharp yell echoed through out the mansion, causing Charlene to cringe outwardly hearing the vampire's torture. She wasn't the only one who heard it, Rebekah could recognize those yells in any room filled to the brim with people, knowing him for so long.

"What's Stefan doing here?" Rebekah asked in shock, not believing what she was hearing, standing up with every part of her on edge.

"Rebekah." the blonde witch implored carefully, seeing the female vampire inch her way up the small case of stairs, "Listen to me, It's better for you just to wait."

"I can't just sit here. They'll torture him!" She hollered wildly in desperation, hurrying closer to the door, struggling with the lock on the door that wouldn't budge. Damn it, it was a spell!

The female Original turned around seeing the witch's hand raised, ready to do what's necessary. Naturally, she wasn't a fighter in person, but Charlene will do what she had to do. "Don't make me do this..."

**Meanwhile...**

_"Loneliness Stefan, that's why you and I memorialize our dead. There's the briefest of moments where we hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away and we're left with nothing. So gathering other people's letters or writing their names on a wall is a reminder that we are left infinitely and utterly alone."_

Those words spoken to Stefan a while back truly haunted him from where he stood. He was now at the mercy of his old friend and once partner-in-crime, Klaus, The Original Hybrid. He was either very brave or very stupid to look for Rebekah in the one place where he was most unwelcome. And by that, it could mean by losing his life permanently by Klaus' hands. There was no one that could help now. He felt truly and utterly alone.

And there he was, compelled to stand there still with no hint of movements until Klaus changed his mind. Knowing Klaus, it would definitely be a long day before even the word of "escape" would fit into Stefan's situation.

"Looks like I caught the little Salvatore into a trap. Why doesn't that surprise me?" To see Klaus act so nonchalant and so casual rang alarms inside of Stefan's head. Whatever Klaus' play implemented, it gave Stefan undesired feels creeping up his skin and giving Klaus the satisfaction of instilling fear into others.

"Now Niklaus, take it easy on him. He wasn't wholly responsible our younger brother's passing." Elijah calmed his brother, strolling into the of the many dens in his brother's mansion, classy his usual manner like a boss. With his brother's unpredictable behavior on the rise, Elijah took it upon himself to at least oversee that Niklaus kept his temper to a minimum.

Klaus laughed a humorless chuckle. "And dear brother, when have I ever been known to be easy?"

"It was just a suggestion, Niklaus. Damon won't be pleased if you roughen up Stefan too much, and we don't need an angry Salvatore on our hands. And to make it clear, if things get out of hand, this is by your dong. I'm not going to help you in this," Klaus' elder brother warned him ahead of time.

"I don't need your help, Elijah. Damon Salvatore is the least of my worries. If need be, I'll just teach him another lesson. It shouldn't take much." Klaus mentioned with a sneer.

"With your secret weapon?" Stefan's question came out more like a statement from the infliction of his voice.

"Of course you would know, Stefan. You were there, remember? With just one word, I could have sent Damon to his death, but that just takes the fun out of everything. I need all of you to stay alive to enjoy the show to its fullest."Klaus reached over to the table with his many tools adjacent to Stefan's right side, but still a ways from him while Stefan hung chained and trapped, the younger vampire's hands hanging in the air with the metal teeth of the bear traps digging into his skin.(Let's just say that Klaus borrowed a page from Rebekah's book of torture ideas, just this once). Klaus' originality in his torture will make up for the loan.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, hoping to stall Klaus long enough to see if he can find a way out of this forsaken mental asylum.

"Jackson Pollock once said, 'Every good painter paints what he is.' And now I'm going to paint what I am. It should be pretty simple for you to figure that out considering all I am to you is evil, right?" He mocked Stefan as grabbed a sharp knife and dipped it into the small bowl which held a clear liquid inside, much like water. With an artist's precision, Klaus held the knife like it was his paintbrush, ready to begin his masterpiece, using good ole' Stefan as his canvas. "Pop quiz, Stefan. What is the other most essential material that a painter must have in order to complete his work? It's not hard. There is only one right answer."

"Paint," the younger Salvatore answered.

"So, there is hope for you after all." Klaus said as he stalked closer, his voice purring with a false sense of security. "Too bad that my natural talents are calling to be used." With that, the Original stabbed Stefan in his stomach, ready to bleed him like a stymied pig.

Stefan grunted as his face contorted in pain. The flesh around the blade sizzled and burned caused by the vervain-infected water. "And just for extra measure," he heard Klaus speak before the blade twisted and turned adding salt to the wound, the pain twice as bad, Stefan's yells of agony were music to the hybrid's ears.

"You just had to do this in the living room, didn't you?" Elijah didn't want any more blood spilled than necessary. Klaus was always messier with torture or killing whereas Elijah was more precise and to the point.

Klaus paid him no mind as he continued his handiwork. "Now, where am I going to get the paint? Whatever shall we do? It's a tragedy." His mocking sarcasm was definitely not needed on Stefan's part, but Stefan eyed the knife in the hybrid's hand as Klaus used it to cut through the shirt the Salvatore was wearing before.

"Here we go, I have all the material I need, right." he paused in his words for only a second, edging the blade from Stefan's right shoulder to across his chest at a downward diagonal angle, "here."

Stefan's mouth grimaced tightly holding in the urge to yell, reacting to the burn cut into his flesh. But as he reacted, it sent more shots of agony when he involuntarily clenched and unclenched his wrists, the metal teeth of the bear trap digging more into his bloody wrists. From Klaus' sadistic cutting edge, he had successfully found resource for his "paint." "You see, you made an unwise decision of coming here, even if the purpose was noble of you to check on my little sister and where she had gone. But alas, it's on you for not thinking through with your decision."

"Klaus." Stefan rasped, "it's your fault."

"About what?" Klaus asked curiously, wiping the blood off of his knife as he got ready for another round.

"All of this. None of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you." Stefan explained more clearly.

"Oh, do explain your theory, I'm sure it's going to backfire anyway." Klaus said approaching him, studying him.

Elijah watched carefully, but with interest as to see what the younger vampire had to say about his brother. Stefan had guts, but it was only going to take him so far, and knowing Niklaus' anger and temper, it wouldn't take Stefan far enough.

"Think of it, Klaus. Had you not pulled Caroline into your complicated mess, she'd still be alive now, that if you'd managed to think of someone besides yourself for once, Caroline never would have been in the line of fire."

With an angry growl of fury, Klaus rushed over to the chained up vampire, his hand embedded into Stefan's chest with his fingers tightly gripping his heart. "The only thing stopping me from killing you is that I want to you to watch as I make everyone you love suffer, starting with your ex doppelganger girlfriend, Elena." Then Klaus added the cherry on top. "First, I'll slowly drain her brother dry until there's no life left in him, then I will make you hear her screams until her last dying breath..."

Stefan snarled with his eyes turning red with dark veins dilating, furious at Klaus' threat, but it did him no good as he struggled against the chains once again. Klaus smirked seeing the younger brother fight him. It's a pity, a part of Klaus missed the Ripper that he once could call his brother, someone he can could relate to, too bad trust is rarely anything meaningful anymore thus making things a lot more took away his bloody hand from Stefan's chest in hasty strikes, he drew multiple deep lines onto the Salvatore's anterior portion of his body, mainly his core. The lines drawn burned and boiled from the vervain-soaked blade, leaving bloody dripping lines.

"Oh Stefan." Klaus said, "that's going to leave a mark."

"Niklaus, enough of this dilly-dallying. If you want to finish Stefan, I'll do it myself." Elijah spoke, annoyed with all of the unnecessary trifling. It was getting out of hand and the last thing he needed was to deal with a overemotional Damon Salvatore once again when he finds out about his baby brother's torture.

Before Klaus could deter Elijah from spoiling his sport, the intrusive sound of the door flying open and crashing into the wall interrupting the two brothers and the captive Salvatore. Rebekah came scrambling into the room, looking as close to frantic as she ever had, her wide blue eyes surveyed the scene in front of her and only grew wider as she realized her worst fears over Stefan's disappearance had come true. His body bore signs of Niklaus's torture, and judging by the healing, but gaping hole in his chest, Rebekah had arrived just in time. Her eyes lingered accusingly on Klaus's hands, which were coated in Stefan's blood.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" the blonde Original demanded of her brother.

With a characteristic smirk that came nowhere close to reaching his eyes, Klaus gestured to Stefan's bloodied, chained down form, "I thought it was fairly obvious, Rebekah. Would you care for a diagram?"

Klaus was in no mood to deal with his baby sister's theatrics, her habit of consistently and predictably pursuing the wrong men was no longer his problem to deal with.

Rebekah's eyes turned icy as she stormed towards her brother, both fury and frantic concern fueling her actions. "I'm not going to let you kill him!" Rebekah swore passionately, the threat clear in her cracked tone. A half a beat later, Rebekah turned her accusing gaze to Elijah, who remained standing a few feet away with an exasperated expression, "Why didn't you stop him?" she demanded, speaking as if Klaus were no longer in the room.

Elijah's returning gaze was tired and less than engaging, "You know as well I do that I don't control the things our brother does." If he did, his life wouldn't be spent in a continual roar of suffering for other people's mistakes and choices.

Klaus's smirk stayed in place as picked up a nearby knife, one that he'd previously used against the younger Salvatore. His blood still stained the fine silver, but it was dried and dark. "Always aiming for the dramatics." Klaus commented to Rebekah carelessly. He glanced at Stefan, whose breathing was still ragged and forced, and then back at Rebekah, "My quarrel with Stefan is none of your concern, baby sister. I suggest you leave whilst you still have the ability to do so, you wouldn't want your unrequited pining for Stefan to land you back in a coffin, now would you?" Klaus taunted mirthlessly just before he stabbed Stefan in the gut, twisting the knife once again and causing Stefan to moan in pain through a choked coughing that sounded to Rebekah as though he was choking on his own blood.

"Rebekah, get out of here!" Stefan wheezed breathlessly, his green eyes fierce and commanding as he looked at Rebekah. Despite the pain that was etched into his features, concern for the blonde Original shone clearly there too. With Klaus's unstable mental position, Stefan didn't want to risk his wrath turning on Rebekah, not again.

"Get away from him, Nik!" Rebekah screamed, the look Stefan had given her was sending her into a new kind of determination. She ran forward and grabbed on to Klaus's arm and pulled back, forcing him to remove the knife from Stefan's stomach. "Stop it!"

Klaus furiously ripped his arm from Rebekah's hold, but the smirk he'd worn earlier began to light his face again as he looked in between Stefan and Rebekah, "Oh" Klaus said in a mockingly flamboyant tone, spreading his arms out in a grand gesture, "it appears I was wrong. This is much more than some silly infatuation with wanting yet another man who wouldn't so much as spit in your direction." Klaus added spitefully before he went on with his exaggerated bravado, "you really care for him, don't you?"

Off to the side, Elijah remained silent, but anyone looking at his expression would be able to tell he had reached the end of his rope. Klaus's petty revenge schemes and Rebekah's affections for Stefan were wasted on him. This little show of the hybrid's powers was grating on his nerves, and he would put a stop to it soon if his siblings couldn't reign their out of control tempers in.

Rebekah's eyes widened a little and she swallowed back her shock. Stefan wasn't supposed to be important to her, that was never part of the plan, he was supposed to be her no-strings distraction. But...she would be lying to herself to say that their relationship never strayed from their original plan, that much was obviously demonstrated by her rescue attempt. But Nik didn't need to know about her feelings, and she didn't need to admit them, all she needed to do was save Stefan from being another casualty in their family's long list of caught-in-the-crossfire victims.

"How I feel has nothing to do with this." Rebekah said coldly, refusing to appear weak in front of her brother again, "this isn't about me at all! This is about you and the fact that you can't move past your own grief!" she snapped at Klaus, her eyes turning icy and accusing again. "I'm not going to let you kill Stefan because you want everyone to be as miserable and alone as you are!"

Numb, all feelings toward his baby sister were thrown aside. He flashed over, slamming Rebekah against the wall with his hand firmly around her neck in a deadly chokehold. "Well then, little sister. I think we have reached an impasse."

"Keep your hands off of me before I put you in a bloody coffin!" Using the spike of her heels, she kicked his stomach successfully stabbing him in the stomach with the stilettos sticking out of him oddly.

He staggered back with fury blazing in his eyes and gritting his teeth, ready to teach his sister a lesson that she would never forget. "You really shouldn't have done that."

Rebekah scoffed as she came towards him, ready to defend Stefan. "It's just like you said, Nik. I am a little mean, aren't I? A little brother and sister fight isn't hard. So, this shouldn't be even in the least difficult for you if you want to end this." Rebekah eyed the painting that situated on the wall, and swung it over Klaus' skull only for her to miss by the last second.

"Oh, it's more than that." He took out the cursed heel out of his abdomen, and threw it aside like it was trash. Klaus threw his head back in mock laughter. "But, you know that you can't beat me, Bekah. Who was it that taught you how to defend yourself?"

Rebekah's eyes narrowed at the use of her special childhood nickname. He dared to use that on her! Cheap shot! "Last I recall it was you that taught me all the tricks." she answered with a smirk, "but I can certainly try to kick your arse in long enough to use for my advantage."

"We'll see." Klaus brandished the silver blade he had in his hands previously, ready to use. As he charged over, Rebekah went defensive and held him back with her hands against his, pushing back as best she could trying to prevent him from stabbing her. For a long agonizing minute, no one could break the hold they were stubbornly trying to take advantage of. Both Originals did not take losing very well, and neither of them were willing to back down from this, and Klaus and Rebekah were probably the most two stubborn Originals of all.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Both of Elijah's siblings stopped momentarily, shocked by his outburst. Not often did he ever raise his voice for anything, but it only took once for them to stop bickering like children. The eldest Mikaelson had enough of this. He proceeded towards the bloody Salvatore and began to release him from his shackles.

But, Klaus wouldn't have any of it. "No!"

Now with her brother distracted, Rebekah took the advantage and stole the blade from her brother. Using her strength, she threw her brother through the double glass doors that led to the den of the mansion, leaving nothing but bits of wood and broken glass on the floor.

"And, I just replaced that door..." Klaus wheezed from the bit of wind knocked out of him.

With Nik temporarily down on his back, the female Original stood over him and was ready to bring the hammer down. Her smugness was evident in her face as she held the knife in her hand, aiming for his heart.

"Who has the upper advantage now?"

Just as when she was inches away from breaking through the skin and bone to strike through her brother's chest, an unseen monster pounced on Rebekah in effort to get her away from Klaus knocking out the knife in her hand. Rebekah looked up to see the caramel-colored wolf snarling, trying to hold Rebekah back by pinning her to the ground away from Klaus. "Get the hell away from me!" She backslapped the wolf away from her like it was only a fly, the wolf flying against the wall making an inaudible whine from the impact. And just to make sure it would stay down, the female vampire used an extra measure. She threw the silver bloody blade into the wolf's stomach, causing the wolf to moan and whimper in pain.

"That ought to take care of you." she said in disgust.

Little did they know that the wolf's sounds of pain didn't go unheard by just the vampires in the mansion, but also by a struggling witch crawling on her belly from the injuries she sustained to get to chaotic exchange between the siblings. She had to get to them. To get to...

Elijah had finished releasing Stefan from the stupidly complicated contraptions used for his imprisonment, and dragged the bloody vampire to the front entry.

"I must advise you not to come back if you want to live, my brother has already proven of the scale of far his anger can go." Elijah warned him promptly, slightly disappointed of Stefan's decisions and now that his clean-cut suit was foiled.

"But..." Stefan tried to protest, but his injuries from the torture prevented him from fully speaking.

"Just heed my warning and stay away, I will make sure of my sister's safety." Elijah said curtly. The eldest Mikaelson wasn't going to repeat the same thing twice.

Stefan's vision kept coming in and out, not allowing him to see fully as Elijah dragged him away like a dirty, old rug. The loss of blood was really starting to affect his senses, but he tried to concentrate hard enough to see what was going on. The Salvatore went into shock seeing a young woman on the floor trying to get to the fighting siblings. He watched as best he could with his eyesight not functioning properly as she picked up her head to see what was ahead of her, but that wasn't all he saw. He saw a pair of familiar light blue eyes, lighter than his own brother's that stroked something familiar to him from so long ago. And that's when both vampire and witch caught the same thing between them in the last second.

The look of recognition.


	16. Echo Part II

**A/n: Hey, lovelies. Here is a beta'd version of chapter 16. Hope you enjoy. **_  
_

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.**

Chapter 16: Echo Part II

_Past - 1910_

Love was supposed to have many obstacles, whether they're physical, emotional, or spiritual. Caroline's track record for it wasn't the best, but she tries damn good and well to face those hurdles and take the bull by the horns. But, there's only so much anyone can handle at one time.

Caroline definitely had her hands full. At every turn, there was always something thrown at her making it impossible for her to dodge.

In her own perfect world, she would be back in Mystic Falls worrying about which scholarships she could receive and colleges she planned on attending. She would see her mother again for good. Caroline would be on good terms with Elena and Bonnie, all of her friends would be safe and sound. Tyler and her would have their own happy ending and ride into the sunset, there would be no looming darkness overhead with Silas causing chaos in his wake, the search for the cure would not be of most urgent need the search for the cure would not be the top priority causing everyone to turn their backs on one and other to win the grand prize. No more innocent people dying, and no Klaus to deter her from the straight and narrow path she focused on.

Sadly, reality wasn't kind.

Caroline was so deep into this complicated web that she can't unglue from what has happened. And just when it couldn't get any more toilsome, she was now bonded to Klaus in the worst possible way.

A blood bond.

Caroline remembered the unspeakable dread that creeped in when she read Jean's notes. This was something so unheard of that before now, she never thought something of that nature could exist. Sure it would be easier just to get angry and blame someone, but Caroline wasn't that kind of person, she was better than that. Caroline wasn't one for moping around and feeling sorry for herself.

Determined not to let this put her down, Caroline kept herself occupied from the looming thoughts that swirled in her mind, she explored around the wonders of plantation with Charlene, rode horses, played around with Jean, she helped Adelaide with things, tried to talk to Maggie with little to none success, and she even spent a bit of time with Kol (much to Klaus' dismay.) Then in her spare time, she often tried to ignore Klaus and Rebekah for her own safety. With Klaus, it was for obvious reasons, and she really didn't want to be curious on how Rebekah acted in this time frame.

Despite everything that's been going on, it was always natural for Caroline to find something positive to look forward to in her situation, though. It still didn't change how everything turned upside down.

A light humming sound crept through Caroline's sharp hearing as the hybrid was gazing at the flames of the fire, turning her head, she saw the blonde witch, Charlene, holding a wooden basket of laundry in her arms. Not wanting to waste time sitting around, she got up from her spot and hurried over to Charlene.

"Would you like some help?" Caroline offered.

Charlene slightly gasped, shocked to see Caroline there._ Dang, with all of these vampires and hybrids running about in the plantation, it's scary how stealthy they can be on sneaking up on people,_ the witch thought."Oh, my! I didn't know you were there, you scared me to death."

"Do you still want the help?" Caroline asked again, slightly apologetic.

"I'll be grateful for it." she said gratefully, "Adele isn't going to be happy that I forgot to get the clothes off the clothes line again, she always wants us to be punctual when it comes to what we do." The young witch couldn't help, but appreciate Adelaide for this, her teacher always kept Charlene on her feet and always pushed her to sharpen her mind. Adele was like a mother and a teacher wrapped up into one, she was glad to have a role model of that quality.

"What do you want me to do then?" Caroline wasn't useless, she refused to be like that. Any distraction was welcomed with open arms if it kept her from thinking from of...certain things.

"All you need to do is fold half the pile, and I can do the rest so that we can kill time faster." Charlene resumed doing her chore, and began to fold part of the clothes while Caroline did the other half.

Caroline watched with curious eyes as the witch smiled and hummed to herself, oblivious to everything else around her. There was always presence of easiness and peace any time Charlene came into a room, Caroline would give anything to make everything seem so carefree or be laid back. Apparently, Caroline didn't notice that the witch already knew of the hybrid's eyes on her. "Is there anything on your mind?"

"Nothing really,I was just wondering what you were humming." the hybrid answered as resumed her folding.

"It's just a tune of a French lullaby I remember my mother singing to me as a child." Thinking of her mother, Charlene didn't remember much of her from her childhood, all she could recollect were feelings and some flickers here-and-there of memories that were brief. "It's just one of those things I do. I can't explain it, but I know I've done it all my life, I never really thought about it."

"It's a good thing actually. You're calm and more at peace, is there a drug you take that you wouldn't mind sharing with me to allow myself to do that?" Caroline half-joked while folding the dress as best as she could.

Charlene laughed at her question, but shook her head. "Not really, no. I guess I just cope better than most people. I never really work myself in a panic, though I do admit that I can become a worry-wart when the problem is serious."

"What do you get worried about? You always make it so easy to just go with the flow." Truly, Caroline was envious of that quality, she could always survive the outcomes, but couldn't let things just roll off her back like it was the easiest thing to do.

"Excuse me?" The witch gave her a confused look.

The blonde hybrid realized of what she just said. Damn I hate time travel, she thought. "It's just a phrase where I'm from, back in..."

Caroline didn't even have to finish for Charlene to understand. "I get it, you just threw me off guard there a bit."

"Alright." Both blondes continued to finish their work with the clothes in silence. While Charlene was content in the silent company, Caroline wasn't so thrille, silence wasn't something that she ever felt comfortable with. This wasn't missed from the blonde witch's observation. "Do you have something on your mind?"

"Does it look like I do?" Caroline questioned in denial, trying to sound as if she hadn't had anything pressing on her brain.

Charlene shrugged her shoulders, sighing to herself. It's up to Caroline whether she wanted to speak of it or not. "Maybe..."

"Okay, you caught me." Caroline admitted to her defeat. "It's the just the whole situation. I'm not supposed to be here, I've got a life back home. There's gotta be some way for me to go back, can't Adele do something?"

So, that's what has been on her mind. Still, Caroline should have known this by now, though her teacher was a cunning witch, Adele was not a miracle worker. There were even spells that she cannot could not perform. Limits had to be put in for witches as well, though it may seem almost impossible to wrap your own mind around that concept. Charlene didn't fault the hybrid for the desperation of any chance of escape. Even free-spirited as the blonde witch was, she could never leave the group of people she had considered as her second family.

"Care, you're gonna hate to hear this coming from me." the witch treaded carefully as she could. She didn't want to crush her friend's hopes, but there wasn't any other way to soften the blow, facts were facts. "Adele already told you about the time travel spell, it's forbidden for a reason. Besides, if there was any other way to get you back home she would have found it by now."

"But, seriously? There isn't any other way?" Frustration crossed her face as she sat down on the couch in a huff, everything started to seem like it was closing in on her with no mercy.

"There isn't, and besides, I think there's more on your mind than that." Charlene guessed. She was always pretty good with talking to people. "It's a boy, isn't it?"

Tyler.

"I'm not meant to be here. Everything just seems so topsy-turvy now and I don't know what to do." Caroline was pulled into so many directions, she didn't know which path to take. As time flew by in the current time period she was in, she couldn't discern what was real and what isn't anymore.

Sensing her distress, Charlene laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Care." she spoke with a gentle and understanding expression,"I know things get tough and you feel like you have nowhere else to turn to, but look around you. You have Adelaide, me, and there's others that care about you, I know it seems so futile to do, but try to look at the positives in any situation you come across. You never know how it might help you in the end."

Caroline nodded to her advice. Though she may not think of it now, she would definitely save it for later. "Thanks, it helped a little bit."

"I'm always here to help."

Both girls' conversation became disrupted when an indiscernible yell and crash came from upstairs. It was a good thing Klaus and most of his siblings weren't in the house, it made things so much easier to deal with at the moment. Looking back at each other with confused glances, they didn't know what to do.

"Do you want me to check on that or you?" Charlene asked aloud, wondering if Caroline should go up there.

"I'll be fine, I need to get these legs moving anyway." The blonde hybrid politely refused, not letting her moping about ruin the rest of everyone's evening, even though it was late. Giving Charlene one last smile before she headed to the stairs, she did wonder though what could cause such a ruckus. Caroline treaded carefully up the stairs, wondering what would be there waiting for her.

**{Louder Than Thunder}**

_Past - 1910_

Adelaide suppressed the urge to jump when the thunder rolled with a deafening boom as she read through her book, the storm brewed for the later part of the night with the pouring rain battering the rooftop. It didn't bother her, she oughted to have been used to it by now, the witch lived in the deep southern state for too many years. Louisiana's weather wasn't particularly a pleasant mistress, especially with how fickle it can be like a woman, it could change from hot to cold in an instant.

The witch could remember when any time there was a storm, she had always placed her rocking chair in front of the fireplace, using the firelight due to the lack of other sources. She also remembered nights of where her old place of residence was the old mansion back in Lafayette, taking care of Jean as if she was her own child. Poor Jean at the tender age of six was so scared of the thunder and lightning, Adelaide always found her curled up into the witch's arms, happy and safe.

It was rather disappointing...

Adelaide's mistress at the time was always weary and sick, not sick as in a disease or something you can cure with an easy remedy. The woman was sick with a heavy heart, always dwelling on the shards of her broken and loveless marriage, how the soft-hearted woman continued to this day still made the witch ponder. Clearly, she had no business of dealing with such tumultuous affairs the Thibodaux family created for themselves. Often Adelaide saw the woman drown in the sea of depression with almost to no sure way of climbing back up for air, that left her with no one to take up the natural role of that necessary female influence in her daughter's life.

That's where Adelaide came in.

From her limited position, there was only so much that Adelaide could do or say, but like the fearless and motherly woman she was, she took the task head-on and gladly built and molded the basic foundations of the future independent woman she hoped that Jean would become. But with every foundation, there was always something that was able to make that foundation crumble.

The man Adelaide also worked for was Jean's father, she always tried to have the least amount of interaction with that man as much as possible. Aside from the natural witch reaction she accumulated from being around vampires and werewolves, the man naturally gave off an edge that made her skin crawl. Adelaide wasn't one to let another person so easily order her around. She didn't make no any effort to hide her disgust for the man, but she kept it under wraps for Jean's safety. High in the alpha-pack hierarchy, his ego and anger were his two main downfalls, especially when it came to his family of werewolves that not only included him, but also his brother and their family. Infamous for their short tempers, Adelaide witnessed all too many times of the werewolves' anger to others; often she tried to shield Jean from seeing them treating others like that, but she had to give Jean credit for her perseverance. The witty girl didn't let that bother her and she kept herself busy with other things.

But like in all stories, there will always be a climax coming in that will change everything. With the fourteenth year of her service approaching, the witch realized that the little girl she knew was growing up. Soon enough, the young girl will become a young woman and Adelaide's job would have been served. That changed when the mistress of the house decided to leave the hellhole of a marriage, it was a brave act of courage, but that came with a price.

She got her divorce just the way she wanted, she would have nothing to do with him, but that came with a heavy price.

Jean.

Adelaide couldn't help, but watch with forlorn eyes as she held back a devastated young girl who was deprived of her mother. But, that wouldn't be the end of it, it was just the beginning of a series of events.

With the pull of some strings, Adelaide's employer decided that her time as Jean's caretaker would come to an end. The witch had no other choice but to leave the girl she had come to dare call as a her own child was devastating. Her father held the safety of Jean in his hands, and Adelaide wouldn't forgive herself if any harm had come to her, leaving Jean was the hardest thing she ever had to do, thus began a dark storm that would brew just like the one outside.

As the years flew since her departure, Adelaide traveled trying to keep her mind off of her guilt. Soon enough, she decided to officially take on an apprentice, but she wasn't look for one out of her way, the right person would have to come to her and they did. Her two apprentices, Magdalena and Charlene. Still, distracting herself looking after the two girls under her protective wing only could do so much.

"Jean..." Adelaide called out to the werewolf as the witch knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

No sound was heard from the other side of the door, except for a bunch of cackling and hiccups. Adelaide just sighed to herself and let herself in Jean's room. Opening the door wide open, the sight before the witch shocked to her. Sprawled in nothing but a thin nightgown, Jean laid on top of the bed in a awkward position guzzling down the whiskey straight from the bottle. Adelaide's shock measured higher seeing more of the room littered with empty and broken glass bottles.

"What in the world?" Adelaide's mouth gaped, appalled with disgust.

"You kn-now what's f-uu-nny," Jean slurred slightly, hiccuping. "Fig-htin' with a fl-l-y. Shit, no mat-te-er what you d-do, it ne-v-er goes awaaaay. The fl-yy lan-nds on the co-uunt-er, and I look-k at the fly, and tr-ry to pus-sh the fly, but the fly ke-e-ps flying awaaaaay from m-ee."

"Hilarious..." Adelaide spoke dryly. "Now, quit trying to be funny because it's not working on me."

Jean was momentarily silent, taking notice of the older woman's tone. "D-i-id I saaay som-me-thin-ng wro-nng?"

"Enough of this!" Adelaide demanded as she rushed forward towards the young werewolf, snatching away the empty whiskey bottle from Jean's hands.

"Wha-at the h-eell-ll?!" She uttered indistinctly, struggling to sit up. She didn't understand what Adelaide's problem was, but she knew that there were few things that tested Adelaide's tolerance. "Whaaat's wro-ong?"

"It's everything! This talk has been long overdue and you're not avoiding me this time." The witch answered in a firm and strict tone, but her next action emphasized it more when she used a small spell to turn to lock on the doorknob, locking both witch and werewolf inside of the room. "Just for the extra measure."

But, it didn't faze Jean. She only did what she does best: brushing it off her shoulder.

"Noo-w, wh-at-eever has hap-pen-ed, I'm sur-e we can talk abo-ut thi-iis like two adu-llts." She tried to placate the witch.

"Oh, we're going to talk." the older witch replied. "I'm sorry to do this, but you forced my hand."

It took all of her will not to cry at the sight of the closest thing she had to a daughter letting herself drown her sorrows, this wasn't the young girl she knew from way back when. Someone replaced the Jean that Adelaide knew and loved. Adelaide concentrated just the right amount to catch the werewolf's attention. With the right amount of control, she designated her eyes to the sight of Jean's head, causing her to lurch forward holding her head in pain.

"Shit!" Jean cursed, rubbing her temples to easy the headache.

Adelaide didn't speak a word, the dark-skinned witch grabbed the chair near the wooden dresser, placing it a foot away from the front of the bed, facing Jean directly. "Now that I have your attention, you're going to talk and I'm not going away until you give me answers."

"Answers as to what?"

Adelaide shot the question, waiting for the full blow. "What happened that night you left Lafayette?"

A bolt of lightning cracked outside of the window, flashing its sharp light through, not fazing either the werewolf or witch. In the brief bright light, it only further proved of the grim realization of Adelaide's worst fears. Jean's bloodshot eyes were the start, not to mention the dark circles around them, a thin visible sheet of sweat settled on her skin, making it slick and slippery. The lack of hygiene made her short brown hair lose its natural lush, becoming stringy and limp to her head. But what made the biggest change was the instant hardening in her eyes, her stubbornness starting slowly to rear its ugly head.

"No..." she simply said, trying to sober up. Jean tried to walk away, but with little to no success as the effects of the alcohol came full circle limiting her motor function, the stagger in her steps was evident of how much whiskey she had consumed.

Adelaide caught her, setting her back on the edge of her bed from where she was before. Even through the drunken state, she could see the Jean's rotten stubbornness that the witch often had to fight with. "You're going to talk, and I don't care what I have to do." But her firm tone faltered slightly, the weariness of her old age coming to her and shining through. "Please, Jean. Say something..."

A bitter chuckle escaped her throat as her face held a mirthless smile. "What do you want me to say? You want me to pour out my poor feelings to you on the matter? Yeah, like that's going to happen."

"This isn't you, Jean."

"Your point?"

"My point is that you've changed and not for the better, I reckon," she explained trying to get her point across. From the first day Adelaide finally had Jean back, the young girl she knew had been replaced with a darker, more shadowed woman. It honestly scared her of how Jean was spiraling deeper and deeper.

"Why should you be so concerned about me when there's more at stake? I can take care of myself. Me standing here in the flesh proves on what I'm saying. I survived in that cage I was kept in, I survived that hell." Oh, she survived it all right, she survived bathing in blood and sins in the end.

"Because it's my fault..." the witch answered quietly, the old guilt she kept hard to be buried dug its way through beyond her control.

"You're not the blame for this, I never blamed you and I would never do that to you." Despite going through hell and back, never once did Jean blame anyone for her problems, especially Adelaide, Jean could never blame the only one who was the closest thing she had to a mother. It was her weight to bear and no one had any business with cutting her slack. She knew exactly who was the guilty party and her hatred festered just thinking of him.

Though Adele was grateful for Jean's honesty, it still didn't change the facts or the situation. "Jean, I appreciate you saying that, I really do, but we need to talk about this."

Jean scowled. "Stop this, Adelaide. There are more important things to deal with than my stupid issues, ;et me deal with it on my own."

"'Adelaide?' Really? That's what you're calling me now?! It's just like what I said." Adelaide exclaimed, " You've changed and you know it's true so don't deny it. Not to me."

It's true. She never addressed it, but Jean never called the witch by her full first name. Jean would always call her "Addy", ever since she could talk.

Jean tried to rein it in, but her frustrations became widely known when she spoke again. "Who did you expect to see?!" she exasperated waving her arms, "Did you want to see the desperate and naive girl you saw before the fucking bastard made you leave? I hate to break it to you, but that girl died a long time ago."

Adelaide stood silent, piecing the puzzle together, it was coming together now. "It's true then. It was more than just an animal attack, it was you."

Jean's silence was louder than any other sound in the room, she had no reason to argue with Adelaide's answer because it was true.

"Yes." Jean confirmed, "I killed them."

"Why?" It was the only word that the witch could speak of.

"There's no point in asking why!"

Adelaide reeled back in shock seeing Jean snap. She's never done this to her, but the witch stood her ground. "Yes, there is. Because the whiskey is evidence of something else entirely."

"I can make my own decisions."

"Stop avoiding the subject, tell me the truth!"

"No! Just shut up and stay the hell out of it!"

"Don't you tell me to shut up, young lady! I raised you better than that."

"Stay out of this!"

"No, I'm not going to stay out of it!"

"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!"

"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO STOP! I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU SLIP AWAY FROM ME LIKE THE LAST TIME!"

"STOP TRYING TO SAVE ME!" Jean bellowed, her eyes glowing yellow, her body trembled and shook as she internally struggled to keep herself under control. Adelaide wasn't afraid of her, she was afraid for her because just seeing Jean like this wasn't meant to be, the feeling of deja vu washed over her, this moment mirrored the exact night when she first found Jean after she fought Caroline. Jean had looked up at her with those desperate golden eyes with tear tracks spilling down her face, it was happening again.

"Jean, why are you saying this?" Adelaide didn't understand. She never would.

Jean sighed and explained. "Look at me good and well, and take a good mental picture of this. I'm a monster, Adelaide. I'm cursed just as the rest of them were, they didn't think I was capable of being like them, well guess what? They wanted a werewolf, so they got one. I'm beyond saving now. Do yourself a favor, stop worrying about me, the girls need you more than me. This is me now, take it or leave it."

"You didn't hear what I said, I'm not leaving you."

"Then this is what you're gonna to see then for the rest of your days." Damn this girl's stubbornness!

Raising her hand, Adelaide put more force into her power. "If the werewolf is what you are, then I'm going to deal with you like one." She inflicted a shot of pain to Jean, more powerful this time making the wolf gasp in anguish with the witch's fingers tightening slowly into a fist. "Each time you refuse to talk, it will become more painful for you so I suggest you talk before you can't handle it."

Jean needed this intervention if Adelaide can help it, it was necessary. The brunette had fallen from the bed from the last terrible sensation, every part of her being fought against herself, the raging beast struggled against the cage wanting to attack, but Jean refused to attack the last person she had left. The internal war inside of her drained her energy, but the self-will played tough.

"I'm...not...gonna...talk..." She gritted out.

"Yes, you are." With one last try, this would be the final blow that only Adelaide would take, Jean wasn't invincible. "Now, tell me!"

She felt as if her head were splitting in two. Everything was taking its toll, there was only so much she could take. "Over...my dead...body..."

"Stop this insanity! Stop fighting me!" Adelaide pleaded in desperation as she made through with her threat; she inwardly flinched as the moans of agony increased to screams.

It became too much. "HE LIED, OKAY! HE LIED TO ME! JUST MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!"

Jean's pain and fatigue won out over the stubbornness. She couldn't take it anymore, hard sobs shook her body as everything laid in the open. Hot tears from holding everything in crashed and burned as Jean's incoherent blubbered words merged, she felt a pair of arms gather her into a familiar hold, Adelaide's hold. She finally let it out. She cried and cried until the tears no longer came. In that moment, the witch couldn't see the former Jean that fought against her, instead she held the hurt and lonely girl Jean always tried to keep hidden.

Like a mother comforting her child, she hugged Jean close, stroking her short brown hair. Jean wept into Adelaide's dress, creating dark dots after they left from her eyes. Adelaide didn't say a word to her, but she rubbed Jean's back trying to calm her. She didn't know how much time had passed, but Jean's sobs began to recede. Jean hated feeling weak like that, she was better than this. She let out a long breath, finally regaining her composure.

"It was your father, wasn't it?" Adelaide asked, but the question was heard more like a statement. The witch felt Jean nod against her. "What happened?"

Jean was briefly silent before she gave the witch an explanation. "For too long, I tried to please him and that family." she started to explain, hiccuping from the sobs making it hard for her to talk properly. Although difficult to speak, the disgust and disdain for her family was evident in her voice. "After Mama and you left, it became a living hell, no matter how hard I tried...it was never enough."

"Did he...?" Adelaide couldn't finish the sentence, just imagining the horror made bile rise up to her throat.

"What's done was done, the past can't be changed." The werewolf pointed out in a clipped tone. "But, the real trigger wasn't from that, something else happened."

After all the hell her father put her through, it wasn't worst that happened like the night she turned into the monster Jean was now. Jean was no saint, she had blood on her hands that will never be washed away.

"Keep going..." the witch softly urged, holding Jean closer.

"After Mama left, my father's reckless financial deeds came back to haunt him. Not too long after you left, bill collectors started to show up on our doorstep. They took everything we owned except for the clothes on our backs, but he made extra sure that what was most sacred to us wouldn't be taken away: our history." Jean was glad that her mother got out of that hell, att least she led a better life than Jean couldn't with the walls of her cage closing in around her at that time.

Adelaide remembered the old library from the old house. It was Jean's father's greatest possession and achievement. The witch often educated Jean on her basic school subjects among other things in that grand room, she kept silent as the werewolf continued to enlighten her on the matter.

"He always made sure that those documents would be in a safe place, we ended up moving in with my father's brother and his family after that. It was evident that I wasn't particularly welcomed there, but I kept my mouth shut like the good girl I was. I put on the same act for years to protect myself from letting out how I really felt. Everything changed months ago."

"The massacre..." the witch mused to herself. The news exactly wasn't wide spread, but it reached Adelaide's ears to create such a panic and worry. The Thibodaux Massacre was one of the most vicious cases that hit the newspapers in Louisiana. The slaughter of the once prosperous family left few survivors in its wake. The bodies were so mangled, it was impossible to identify them without the help of the survivors, the only body they couldn't find was of the eldest daughter. She was gone without a trace, with little evidence and limited amount of sources, they registered the murder as an animal attack and deemed it as a cold case and left it on the shelf.

When Adele had tried to find her, she was already gone. With no trail to follow, Adelaide was left to her own devices, it was just within a stroke of luck that she caught her in the nick of time with Caroline fighting against her.

"I got sick for a while with almost no chance of getting better. No matter what the doctor gave me, I wasn't making the recovery. It wasn't until a while later it was discovered that I'm allergic to wolfsbane, that's what had been making me sick. Even before I turned, it was deadly to me. Then there was a letter sent to me...about her...death." The hitch in her throat was a sign of her cries coming back, but she refused to be weak. Not again.

"I didn't even know she was dying, and then in the letter it said she sent one before explaining to me that she wanted me to visit her. I found the old letter that she was talking about, though. I confronted him about it, and then I just lost it. He lied to me about her, and the opportunity to see her again was taken away from me. We argued and I just got so angry, I've never been so angry or had that much hatred, but it was true, I hated him with everything I had. It was then that I truly found out what he thought of me. He baited me thinking I would submit to his will like I always had before. However, it didn't work. Not this time." Jean said with a bit of a cruel smile, the darkness inside of her starting to return in gradually. The storm brewing outside was just like the one inside of her heart, dark and seemingly never ending.

"But since he was a werewolf, how did you-"

"There was a maid who came to check up on me and my father, seeing what was going on. I was so blind in my anger that I didn't know it was the maid. Once I killed her, it was already a full moon that night." Turning into a werewolf was indescribable, but the only thing she could feel was the white-hot pain, she would rather feel pain than nothing at all, but it lasted for hours until the real nightmare began. The true blood bath had commenced.

"Do you remember anything else from that night?"

Jean decided to suck it up, and just finish her explanation before her emotions chained her again. Though grateful to be in the witch's embrace, Jean needed to pull herself pried herself away from Adelaide, standing up and straightening out the wrinkles in the nightgown. "No, I blacked out after I turned, it wasn't until the next morning that I found out what I did."

"Who told you?" Adelaide questioned.

"Klaus explained everything." Jean replied, thinking of her savior. If it weren't for Klaus, she would still be on the run, not knowing what to do with her life. "Despite how he is, he's treated me better than my own family. That's saying a lot."

"So, you joined Klaus willingly?" The equation just didn't fit right in the witch's head, someone joining him willingly? That's absurd. "He's evil, Jean. You know better than that."

"Does that make me evil too?" Jean asked with one eyebrow arched, crossing her arms.

"No, it doesn't, I didn't say that. I'm just concerned about your safety, that's all."

"I joined him on my own accord. I know you don't like that, but I'm not a little girl anymore, I made my own decision and I'm going to stand by it. I'm not going to let anyone else control me again. And I'll be damned before I let anyone make me weak." Jean vowed solemnly. Control was essential to her, if she was able to have a hand at controlling her own demons, she would be ready to to be under anyone's thumb was the best gift she could ever receive, even with Klaus.

"I'm just protective of you, I don't want to lose you again." Adelaide couldn't bear it if she lost her, she'd rather die than let that travesty happen.

For once in a very long time, relief made its way to Jean. She let herself become less tense and sent a grateful smile to the witch's way, holding her closest mother-figure's hands. "Let me do you a favor for a change and let me protect you for once, I need to do my part. No matter what happens, you will always have my loyalty...Addy."

"Come here." Adelaide softly ordered standing up, and spreading her arms out wide. Jean followed through and accepted the affection from the witch. Addy hugged her former charge tightly with her arms wrapped around Jean's middle. It's almost frightening that the little girl she had to leave behind grew into a young woman, whose almost her exact height. "My pretty girl..." she murmured.

"I'm not that pretty reekin' of all of this whiskey." Jean said, her voice thick with emotion.

"I don't care. Don't worry, we're going to work through this. I promise you, we'll be fine." The witch promised, kissing the crown of the werewolf's head.

Jean swallowed the lump in her throat with the tears coming back up again, but instead of despair, they were of happiness. Adelaide's smile was practically contagious because Jean couldn't stop her own smile from forming on her lips. Their meaningful reunion was cut short with a series of knocks followed by a clearing of someone's throat.

"It's open."

"Excuse me?" Caroline carefully asked, emerging from behind the door.

Hearing the female hybrid's voice, Jean got out of Adelaide's embrace, surprised to see Caroline by the doorway. "Caroline, what are you doing here?"

"I heard yelling from downstairs and got worried." Caroline quickly explained. "Then I-"

"You heard everything, didn't you?" Jean asked, the attitude in her tone was hard to detect.

"Yes." Honestly, Caroline could never have guessed this was what the werewolf had been hiding.

Adelaide watched carefully as Jean stepped forward closer to Caroline, ready to intervene if she had to. However, Jean's next action surprised her. Jean's copper eyes softened slightly as she laid a hand on the blonde's shoulder, reassuring her of no ill will.

"You're not angry at me?" Caroline asked in confusion.

"I don't like it when other people know my business, but you only did it out of concern. I can't put that against you." Jean struggled, but she managed to keep herself in check. "In fact, it means a lot to me that you did. You have a loving heart, Caroline. Which is why I ask you to never lose that, but always keep on your guard. Trust me, it can be a gift and a curse. All I can tell you is I hope you keep this just between us for certain reasons, okay?"

"Okay." Caroline agreed, sending a grateful smile at Jean's way.

Adelaide smiled at the exchange between the two females. Now, there's a piece of the old Jean that was still there, the witty and loyal girl was still inside of her deep within as she interacted with Caroline. Maybe...just maybe...there's a chance of getting through this after all.

_**I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
**__**Like a fool at the top of my lungs  
**__**Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
**__**But it's never enough  
**__**Cause my echo, echo  
**__**Is the only voice coming back  
**__**Shadow, shadow  
**__**Is the only friend that I have**_

_**- "Echo," by Jason Walker**_


	17. Titanium Part I

**A/n: Hiya! Here's a brand new chapter of Louder Than Thunder. I can't believe it. We're almost to 300 reviews. I'm just like - wow. I'm excited. This chapter is loaded with Klaroline and Klaus goodness. I want to thank all of the supporters who have stayed along with me for the ride so far. I also want to thank my friends. And also the two best betas any girl could ask for, Evie and Erin! Ya'll are awesome! Thank you too, Cilla! You're so amazing! Then Mandy and Katie! Best friends ever! **

**Oh, there's going to be a slight change in format for the time being. As you know from the last two chapters, I split the past and present into two parts. To make it easier for quicker updates, I'm gonna do just that. Just remember to read the author's notes. **

**This is the unbeta'd version. Bear with me. **

**Please Review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. **

Chapter 17: Titanium Part I

_Present - 2011_

As time went by, the harsh winter through Mystic Falls began to loosen its harsh grip, the environment becoming more at ease to deal with. Still, there was a coldness that didn't change inside a certain hybrid's heart. That icy darkness continued to grow and take shape as each day passed, the only thing that made him continue going was the sweet taste of revenge that was so close to him. But like in any case, there was always something that went wrong. That hitch being a certain Salvatore recognized one of his secret assets essential to his plot. Now, everything was hurling into a direction he didn't want to follow. Klaus was going to have to rebound and wrap up the small wounds and fix the kinks that if not fixed in time, it could make his plan foil altogether.

The cemetery was empty that morning, thankfully. No unwanted presences that he would have to interact and mingle. It was definitely easier this way. The worst decision anyone could make was to try to socialize with him, especially at this moment when he was at his most vulnerable. When Klaus was at his most weakest, his actions tend to be unpredictable like a wild card. Most often, the Original would rely on his anger like a crutch since that was what he mostly knew. Then again, there always came a rare moment where you could see how broken deep inside he was with everything around him.

He paraded through the graves, silent as a snake slithering through the grass. With a dozen red roses in his hand, Klaus finally came across the freshly placed tombstone and grave had looked for. His face remained solid as marble, his body rigid as stone as the blue-gray eyes read the engraved writing on the tombstone.

**Here lies...**

**Caroline Beulah Forbes **

**September 20, 1992 - January 15, 2011**

**Beloved Daughter, Friend, and Angel**

**Be Positive! **

He briefly recalled Caroline often repeating her motto to her friends when it was she herself who had the hardest time living up to that. It's ironic, he thought with contempt. If she was so beloved just like how the wordings in the stone says, then why did he see that similar pain in her eyes that he even felt so long ago? If she was so beloved as a daughter, her own family wouldn't have neglect her from the affection and support that's essential to a young woman growing up, vampire or not. If she was so beloved by her friends, then she wouldn't be labeled as someone to use for their own convenience. If she was so beloved like an angel, then Tyler wouldn't have been a devil and struck her down like he was in a war.

Funny how much they truly miss something once it's gone.

Pathetic.

Silently, he bent down and placed the roses in front of the tombstone. He didn't say a word. Everything he felt was screaming from his eyes. All that he kept buried inside kept clawing and scratching their way to the surface, but Klaus willed himself to stay emotionless. His beloved Caroline, her body rotting six feet under brought an image that he no longer wanted his mind to dwell upon.

Reaching out, Klaus ghosted his fingers over the cold stone. His teeth clenched tightly behind the grimace that settled in his face, everything so tight that anything could set him off.

His plans of revenge were just on the right path of succession. Without as much of a small hitch, Klaus managed to keep everything under control. That was the story of it all until one mistake threw all of it off balance.

_Twenty minutes ago..._

_"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE RECOGNIZED YOU?!" Klaus roared, his voice echoing throughout the mansion in anger. His blood boiled like never before, demanding an explanation from the witch whom he hired to execute a major role in his plot. Secrecy was one of the utmost importance to make sure the plan would be smooth sailing, but now that secrecy was thrown out of the window with that blasted Salvatore distinguishing the blonde witch in the midst of the chaos that had erupted not too long ago. "Answer me, witch!" _

_Charlene Davis didn't even flinch to his outward burst. She completely ignored him since she was used to the hair-triggered short tempers that wolves tend to have. Klaus was the last person the witch wanted to deal with. Thanks to his ego and pride, she now had the clean up the mess of others. Normally, it didn't bother her much but even this witch had limits, especially when it came other people she cared about taking the brunt of the Original Hybrid's tantrum. Knowing that the Originals already heal at an alarming rate, Char couldn't help but to least look after those wounds to make sure they would heal properly. That's just who Charlene was. She loved to help, and it always hurt her heart to see others hurt, even if those who were hurt aren't particularly close to her. After tending to Elijah, who was already fine, even from dropping off an almost dead Salvatore, she had come to Rebekah next. _

_"Hey, are you sure that you're okay?" Charlene asked in concern as her blue eyes scanned for any sign of wounds that hadn't healed properly. "Is there anything I can do?"_

_Rebekah glanced up to the witch, momentarily surprised of her generosity. Why would the witch want to help her after the injuries Char sustained because of her? Unsure of what to say, she just shook her head. "I'm fine, I think I'll manage." _

_The witch smiled gratefully, relieved that at least she tried to make a difference. "I'm glad that you are healing well. Would you mind if I asked a favor of you? That's if you don't mind."_

_The older vampire nodded to her, still unsure on how to react with this rare kindness given to her. "I don't mind. What do you want me to do?" _

_Watching the scene between the witch and his sister, the immortal scoffed in mockery. Charlene turned to Klaus, sending a well earned glare from the blonde-haired witch. Biting back her tongue, she led Rebekah to the fallen caramel-furred wolf, who still had the knife embedded through the fur. Hearing someone approaching, the she-wolf turned her head to see Charlene and Rebekah. Still in effect on her injuries, she gave out a small whine, gesturing with her head to the silver dagger. _

_"Shh, it's alright," the witch murmured softly as she stroked the hurt wolf's soft pelt. "You're gonna get better. She's going to take you downstairs where I'll tend to you in a bit. Besides, you always were a scrappy one." _

_"Let's get this out of you first." The female Original knew it was better to get it over with, and the wolf's healing capabilities will help her in the long run. She took out the blade, surprised to see as the wolf only flinched a bit. The she-wolf's a tough one, the vampire thought. She gave the blade to Charlene, the feeling of guilt sitting in her gut for harming her as collateral damage in the row with her brother. Gathering her strength, Rebekah gathered the bleeding wolf over her neck, both sets of legs dangling off the ends of her shoulders. "You definitely reek, I can tell you that. Like you've been around a dead body." _

_That comment earned Rebekah a low warning growl from the wolf and a small chuckle from the witch. _

_"Thank you, Bekah." _

_Before Rebekah walked away with the wolf in tow, she didn't say a word, but the small smile in her face was enough of sign of the small swell of happiness to receive genuine gratitude. Charlene felt a pang in her heart for her, seeing that bitter end of the stick Rebekah had to always contend with. Watching the wolf and vampire leave, Char sent an encouraging glance to them both, turned to the psychotic Original, who had glared burning holes in her back the entire time, and set the silver blade tight in her hand. _

_The softness in her face left, and it was replaced with a harshness that was rare for Charlene, like something that wasn't meant to fit. Twirling the dagger in her hand, the blade glinted brightly in the light, reflecting back from the expensive ceiling lamp above her. Though it may seem clean in appearance, this tool had seen enough blood and had enough of selfish uses. Meeting Klaus' hard eyes with her own, she pointed to the dagger he previously used for his own devices. "This is one of the reasons I detest working with you after all of these years. Your craving for bloodshed is only one of the many things that will lead to your downfall." _

_Klaus's eyes narrowed in disbelief, the gull of this woman to stand up to him when everything she held dear could be at stake. "May I remind you that you're still under my employment? You know properly of what I can do to your loved ones."_

_Always with the threats, that was a typical move for Klaus to make."The only reason I'm still with you is because one of those I love is by your side. My employment here wasn't of my choice. And though my personal goal means a lot to me, unlike you I don't let desires ensnare my loved ones to get caught in the crossfire." The witch explained, firmly standing her ground with no hint of fear. She couldn't afford it, not now when Klaus was at his most unstable and unpredictable state. _

_Klaus clenched his fists, anger coursing through his veins like adrenaline, fast and furious. His body visibly shook with tremors, his hybrid features coming out. It was an all too familiar sight for Charlene, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to placate the Original's anger, no matter how peaceful she was. "You let him recognize you! You should have handled it with better care!" he blamed her, reaching out to her with great speed with a harsh slap to her face, the sound of his hand echoing. _

_Loud barks came from downstairs, indicating the she-wolf hearing the commotion between the witch and the hybrid. Charlene fell to the floor in a messy heap with her blonde hair falling out the ponytail and straying into her face. It was at this point where Charlene had enough of the hybrid's games. He blamed her for his plan coming apart?! After all that she had done to make sure everything with the magic to go smoothly?! He wasn't going to take her out with his emotions up in a frenzy, over her dead body! Her temper finally snapped. Whipping her hair back and glaring at Klaus with much of an inner wrath that was rarely accessed, she brought herself up, and concentrated with her anger in place to just the right amount. Living for over a century as a witch, the experience comes in handy. Tapping into sources she shouldn't be going towards, but the witch focused on the hybrid's legs, the sound of his bones breaking didn't faze her like it normally would with her serene soul. She wasn't going to feel guilty this time, he pushed her too far this time._

_The immortal hybrid's knees buckled from beneath him, making him lurch forward in pain, as if he was bowing down to her. People often mistaken the witch's kindness for weakness just because of the young woman's reluctance to hurt another living soul. Charlene knew precisely where to make sure Klaus learned not to mess with her. In this circumstance, lowering himself is almost a mockery to himself. Like a royal king bowing to its servant, not that she would lower herself to that standard. _

_"You do this sort of magic? You use expression?" Klaus' questions sounded more like statements in his current state, the fury was still clear in his mannerisms. _

_"What can I say? You have a tendency to push people to the edge, including me." The powerful witch continued to use the potent magic. Rarely were there times she called upon of such forbidden power at her disposal. After the two massacres of the humans and the hybrids took place, it left a permanent mark on the earth. It left a supply of magic for any witch to tap into. _

_Using expression, even for a witch of Charlene's caliber, was very risky. The temptation to drown in the endless sea of possibilities could overwhelm you if you don't have enough willpower to rein yourself in. For her, it was still a grueling challenge. It also proved to her of what the cost could be. A good example of that was the young witch, Bonnie Bennett. _

_News travels fast when it's among other witches. Charlene had heard about Bonnie's loss of magic, her heart aching for her. Losing your magic, it's like having someone stealing away your soul, leaving you bitterly hollow and empty. That's why the blonde-haired witch only used it seldom, but Charlene always had a quieter strength that proved to have helped her more than one occasion. _

_"Now, you have plenty of knowledge in all of your years on this Earth." Charlene began, pacing in front of the hybrid as she kept her distance. A darker tone filled her voice as she spoke. "Tell me, what does Proverbs 16:17-18 say in the Bible? Come on, Klaus. I don't have all eternity like you may do." _

_Klaus remained silent in stubbornness, the only sounds emitting from him were growls and snarls of an animal. His face was tight as he glared at her with as much hatred he could muster, but the witch only saw it as the more desperate childish effort to pin his guilt onto her, to relieve himself from his own damned pride. _

_"Fine then, I'll do yourself a favor." Upping the scale of pain, she focused on the main vessels in his body. Instead of making them burst, she took the harder route and decided to make them constrict, which caused the Original howl in agony. "'The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.'" _

_Even in pain, the hybrid managed to laugh in mockery. "So, do you think some bloody Sunday school lesson is going to help?" _

_"I wasn't planning for it to help you. I just wanted you to take a hint." Charlene added, bringing more pain to the hybrid as more of the tempting dark power egged her on like a demon tainting someone with evil. Watching him, it gave her a sick satisfaction that shook her to her core, but this was so long overdue. "I suggest that you get your eyes checked before you accuse me and try to make me carry your mistakes. Your so-called "plan" was working just fine until you let your ego and pride go your head."_

_Klaus wasn't just going to lay there, groveling on the floor while she preached to him. "Silence!" _

_"It's too late for that now." she said darkly, ready to inflict him another round. _

_"Miss Davis." Elijah addressed coming towards them, "That is enough. I think Niklaus gets the message." _

_"No, he hasn't. Don't you get it, Elijah? He's never going to learn. He's never going to get the message. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place already in his business thanks to him. If he would have just left Stefan alone, or would have just compelled him, we wouldn't have this mess on our hands!" Charlene's voice rarely raised itself, but her stressed nerves were already heading to a bad point. The room began to shake around them as if an earthquake took place, her control slipping bit by bit. "Your brother's plan is not going to fly so smoothly now, and I'm not going to stand here letting him bringing the people I care about down with him."_

_The eldest Mikaelson laid a careful hand on the blonde witch's shoulder. "Charlene, you've done enough here. Go and check on her downstairs. She-wolf or not, she has barked up a storm. Besides, I would like you to check up on my sister foremost. I appreciate your work on looking after the others. Please, go." _

_After hearing Elijah's firm but fair request, she had no choice but to comply. The claws rooted into her that expression often used once someone taps into its power slowly relented. Her darkened blue eyes resumed to their lighter color, like the sunlight coming in through the clouds after a storm. Complying on her own accord, the witch nodded to the noble vampire, relieved to be away from Niklaus for now. She left to go tend to the wolf and Rebekah, leaving the Klaus and Elijah to themselves. _

_Elijah helped to gather his fallen brother from the floor. He had watched his brother at his best and at his worst. This precarious mental state of his brother brought a great concern for the eldest Mikaelson. The joint grief of losing their youngest brother and the passing of Caroline Forbes took its toll on Niklaus, and Elijah was now seeing the repercussions of those losses. Grief can either destroy you -or focus you. It was unknown of what effect this will manifest within his brother, and as his eldest brother, it was his duty to make sure of Niklaus' safety. But how could he do his job when his sibling's reckless actions cause bigger messes to clean up each time?_

_"Niklaus." he addressed carefully, anxious of what his younger brother's actions will be. He laid a hand on his shoulder, still speaking, "she is right. This was unnecessary. We could have used other proper means of taking care of Stefan. There's no need for all of this mess." _

_Klaus gathered himself up to stand, but he jerked away from his brother's touch, not wanting Elijah's pity nor concern. This couldn't be happening, not with everything he had worked so hard for. This was his last chance for retribution. Last chance for the taste of revenge to come to him. There was nothing else that he thought of anymore. Maybe he finally had lost his insanity after his humanity was thrown into the wind? Who knows? It didn't matter anymore. It was obsolete. _

_"Your words are wasted, brother. I have no need for them." Klaus concluded in a tight tone, ready to bolt away from this place like a bat out of hell. There was only one place he wanted to be right now. _

_"Where are you going, Niklaus?" Elijah asked. _

_"Out."_

"Excuse me?" a young and careful voice asked. The Original Hybrid turned his head to the direction of the voice, surprised to find anyone to be near this grave. The owner of the voice was a girl, couldn't no more than eight or nine years old. She was tall for her young age. The girl also had light curly blonde hair with painstakingly almost the same shade of blue eyes as the baby vampire, except hers took more of greenish-blue tint. Her eyes held intelligence that shouldn't be there. Like the child knew what the world was really about yet she still retained her innocence. "I hope you don't mind, sir. I'm just visiting Care for a few minutes. It's on my way to school."

Though Klaus was evil in some ways, he wasn't going to lose his temper and have this girl as another victim to it. He already caused enough damage and there was going to be more in his wake by the time he was finished with his plans. Trying to change his facial expression to something less tense. "It's all right, love. I was just on my way out. Take your time."

She giggled quietly to herself, her eyes holding a knowing gaze. "You said the same thing that my dad says to me every day, and it's always the same. He'll say that he won't stay long, but he does anyway because the pain is still there and he can't bear to part with my mom just yet."

Klaus couldn't help his curiosity at the smart girl's answer. Deciding to explore this further, he asked, "Then why are you here?"

"Because Care babysat me when my dad worked on the weekends. When my mom died, he was worried that I wouldn't socialize so he hired Caroline when he could so she would spend time with me." The blonde girl replied with a small smile, reminiscing on the past. "I guess you could say that she was my best friend. A sister maybe."

The hybrid never browsed into Caroline's personal life outside the supernatural part, but this surprised him in a way he didn't expect. It was pleasant to hear Caroline have some happiness in her life before her untimely death. "What did you and Caroline do?" The sound of her name coming off his tongue was more painful than the little one realized.

"Typical girl stuff. She taught me a lot about things, gave me advice, and helped me when I had problems. She was the best person I knew and always will be." She said with obvious adoration in her eyes. Caroline was obviously a role model for her.

"What's your name, love?"

"Annie," she replied as she placed her own set of freshly picked winter blossoms beside Caroline's grave. Annie still felt the loss of her best friend and older sister with a heavy heart, but there was one piece of advice that Caroline always told her to keep. Always be positive, no matter what the situation was. "Are you Nick?"

Klaus' eyebrows rose in puzzlement, curious about how the child knew. Deciding to play along, he replied. "Yes, but how would you know that?"

"Because Caroline talked about a handsome guy who had a ridiculous charming accent and never stopped getting on her nerves a lot. Since your accent was English when you spoke, I just assumed so..." the blonde girl blushed slightly as she spoke, can't help but react to the man's charm. "Those were her words, not mine."

"So, she talked about me? What did she say?" Klaus couldn't help, but ask of her with an amused smirk, throwing his head back in laughter. Seeing the flush in Annie's face was amusing in its small way. A distraction might be useful for once from his trying matters of late. Sticking his thumbs in the pockets of his pants, he casually leaned against one of the taller tombstones, partaking more into the conversation. "I'm sure she had a mouthful."

"Oh, yeah." She confirmed, nodding her head. Caroline practically ranted to her about everything about Nick, though Annie didn't hear about the supernatural bit of it.

As far as Klaus could tell, the young human girl wasn't none the wiser that "Nick" was actually the most powerful supernatural being in the world next to Silas. Albeit, a very dangerous creature to be dealt with when it came to Niklaus.

"Care always told me to be aware of boys. She said that she was always careful with you, trying to keep her distance. You were always too charming for your own good. She also said something about an accent, but I don't know what else." Annie explained, trying to remember everything she could from the encounters with Caroline. "She knew, you know?"

"Knew what, love?"

"That you loved her." Those words spilled out of her mouth, unknowingly sending Klaus an invisible punch to his gut. The pain in his chest was evident. Whether it was physical or emotional, he didn't quite know. She...what...

He staggered back away from the little girl shaking his head, using his hand to hold onto the cold tombstone as leverage to keep him standing. "What...what did you say?" the immortal asked again, unsure of if he heard what she told him quite right.

Klaus' actions didn't go unnoticed. Annie had a notion that this would happen. "Caroline always had instincts for these sorts of things, but she also told me something that's pretty true about anyone," the little blonde explained softly.

"What would that be, sweetheart?" he questioned her as he came down to her level, his patience wearing thin from the emotions he tried to keep buried. Then the little blonde surprised him yet again when Annie wrapped his arms around his middle.

"'That anyone capable of love is capable of being saved.' Those were her words to me when she told me about that."

Klaus' eyes watered for the first time since Caroline's death. Unknowingly, he hugged the girl tighter to his chest as if he clutching to her for dear life. He didn't voice the cries, but the silent flow of tears on his face were enough of a sign of his grief. Annie gladly returned the sentiment, knowing he would need it. Just like her dad did when he got like this about her mom. No words needed to be spoken and Klaus was thankful for that. It wasn't before long before the calling of Annie's name in the distance brought them back to reality.

"Oh, man! That's my dad! Nick, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I have to leave on such short notice, but I need to get to school." Annie quickly apologized, also sending him a apologetic smile as she wriggled out of his embrace. "It was nice to meet you, Nick. I hope that-"

"Do not worry about me. Go and just worry about yourself. Besides, there's a whole world waiting for you, love. Don't be afraid to go after it," Klaus advised her as he stood up to his full height, giving her a yet a piece of similar advice he gave to a certain vampire. That day seemed to happen just like yesterday to him. Time had no meaning.

For the first time since he'd seen her, the young girl's face lit up with a bright grin, lighting up the place hauntingly similar to Caroline's. "I will. Thank you!" The young nine-year old spun around and skipped to the older man in the distance, which Klaus surmised as Annie's father. Klaus watched the scene from a distance with his humanity trying to claw his way back in. No, it can't happen again, he thought as he clutched a hand to his chest.

Turning away from the father/daughter sight, he glared at the tombstone with hardened blue eyes, a darkness lingering in them that resumed once Klaus stopped trying to mask away for Annie's safety. There Caroline was still dead in the ground six feet under, all because of trying to save him. Actions spoke louder than words so maybe...no. It's too late to figure that out now. Too late for anything between them.

"How dare you..." he murmured in a seething yet broken tone. "How dare you to leave me for my own goddamned sake."

She wasn't supposed to be dead. Caroline Forbes was meant for greater things, and yet this was just another reminder of loss coming to him. That's why he hated attachments with a passion. Once you have someone take a place in your heart, it leaves you open to weakness that comes with it. Caroline wormed his way into his, not even knowing it.

A secret part of his heart ached in agony for the deprived presence that could only be sated by the impossible.

"You weren't supposed to leave." Klaus whispered as he sunk to the ground on his knees, fisting the soil in between his fingers. He didn't know how long his stay over at her grave was, but it was enough to the point where he silently released whatever pent up emotion that encompassed inside of him. No one came to the cemetery, thank God. Maybe fate spared him from that torture, only for him to ready for another round.

But, not anymore. Klaus wasn't going to let his chance for retribution slip away like water through his fingers. He stood from the ground, holding his head high, his inner features of the monster coming out, an evil smirk adding just the right touch. Klaus wasn't going to back down from the fight. Just like in war, he would just have to ploy something else. Mix his strategy up to the right level.

Klaus was ready to give another go while he still had life left in him.

_To be continued..._


	18. Author's Note

**Author's note: Hey, folks. Listen, I need to explain a few things. The reason why I hadn't updated was the fact of life and school has been so chaotic. I just wanted to let you know that I'm not giving up this story. **

**On that note too, I'm also going to do some edits too. This story has some confusing plot holes and I need to smooth them out before I update again. I just wanted to left you know ahead of tie. **

**-Rippah**


End file.
